DALLAS — Miro Heiskanen returned from a 42-game absence, Mikael Granlund had his first career playoff hat trick, Jake Oettinger stopped 31 shots and the Dallas Stars defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3-1 on Tuesday night, taking a 3-1 series lead over the top-seeded club in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Dallas coach Pete DeBoer, in speaking with reporters on Monday, sent out signals that Heiskanen’s return was near, saying, “I’m still sticking by what I projected: that we would see him in the second round.” And he was right, as his top blueliner assisted on Granlund’s third goal of the night and finished with 19 shifts, covering 14:52 of ice time.

Heiskanen was activated from long-term injured reserve earlier Tuesday and went through an optional morning skate. He was one of the first players on the ice for pregame warmups, drawing cheers from Stars fans, and was in the starting lineup.

Heiskanen missed the last 32 regular-season games and the first 10 playoff games. He injured his left knee against Vegas on Jan. 28, when he took a big hit from Golden Knights captain Mark Stone, and had surgery in February. Throughout the postseason, though, he has been skating with the team, building up the drama toward his return.

With Heiskanen back and the Stars up 2-1 in the series, DeBoer’s club went with seven defensemen and 11 forwards for the first time this postseason, with the coach adding “those decisions are always difficult because you’re taking out players that have not only helped us all season but have made some big contributions so far in the playoffs.”

Heiskanen’s presence on the ice was clearly motivating. Teammate Mikko Rantanen upped his NHL-leading playoff total to 19 points, including nine goals, with the primary assist on Granlund’s second goal that broke a 1-1 tie with 2:08 left in the second period and put the Stars ahead to stay.

And Granlund did a double fist pump from his knees, then popped up to his skates after his third goal, his fourth in these playoffs, on a power play with 12:37 left in the game. The 33-year-old forward had scored multiple goals only one time in his previous 69 playoff games, for Minnesota in 2014.

Game 5 is at Winnipeg on Thursday, when the Stars will have their first chance to advance to the West finals for the third year in a row.

Nikolaj Ehlers scored for the Jets, who have lost all five of their road games this postseason.

Granlund notched his first goal after skating down the middle over both blue lines, and a nifty move around Brandon Tanev near mid-ice, before snapping a 38-foot shot past Connor Hellebuyck for a 1-0 lead just 8½ minutes into the game.

Hellebuyck has now lost nine consecutive playoff road games since winning Game 1 at Vegas in 2023, before the Golden Knights won four in a row. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner, the odds-on favorite to win the top goalie award again this season, has allowed 24 goals in the five road losses in these playoffs.

The Jets began the second period with a minute left on a power play, and Dallas technically killed the tripping penalty. But Ehlers scored from a severe angle, his shot from the bottom of the circle to left of Oettinger going under the goalie’s legs and ricocheting into the net while Tyler Seguin was coming out of the box.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.