Miro Heiskanen, Mikael Granlund and Matt Duchene scored power-play goals in a 5:26 span early in the third period and the Dallas Stars opened their Western Conference final rematch against the Edmonton Oilers with a 6-3 victory Wednesday night.
Dallas began the third period with a two-goal deficit and a man advantage from a penalty that carried over from the second. Heiskanen scored 32 seconds in on a shot from near the blue line, Granlund tied it and Duchene put the Stars ahead to stay with a second-effort score that made it 4-3.
Tyler Seguin had two goals and an assist for the Stars. Esa Lindell added a empty-netter that went almost the entire length of the ice to give them their first five-goal third period ever in in a playoff game. Jake Oettinger stopped 24 shots.
Oilers superfan Blair Gladue says hockey fans from across the country are more than welcome on the Edmonton bandwagon as the team takes on the Dallas Stars in NHL’s Western Conference finals. ‘This is Canada’s hope!’ he says of the last Canadian team left in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Game 2 is Friday night in Dallas.
Dallas went 0 for 14 on power plays in losing the West final last year in six games, and gave up two short-handed goals in the process. The Stars also failed to convert with a man advantage only 7½ minutes into this opener, but quickly turned that around in the third period.
Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists for the rested Oilers, who played for the first time since wrapping up their second-round series a week earlier in Game 5 at Vegas. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a power-play goal and an assist, defenseman Evan Bouchard had his fifth goal and Connor McDavid two assists.
Stuart Skinner, who had lost his starting job in these playoffs before Calvin Pickard got hurt in the last series, stopped 22 of 27 shots. Skinner had closed out the Golden Knights with consecutive shutouts.
Heiskanen and Duchene both scored for the first time this postseason.
It was only the fourth game for Heiskanen since missing the last 32 regular-season games and first 10 playoff games because of left knee surgery. He scored a wrister from near the boards just inside the blue line.
Duchene got his goal after his initial shot went off teammate Roope Hintz, who was laying on the ice after getting knocked down. The puck went right back to Duchene, who then flicked it into the net.
The Stars won their seventh consecutive home game this postseason, a first since the franchise moved to Dallas in 1993. They have also won back-to-back series openers since losing eight consecutive Game 1s.
