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.
“Obviously we are very disappointed. After the first two periods we felt it was a good start and then it just turned in the third period,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game. “We are going to have to put this one behind us and move on. We have had some heart breaking losses in the playoffs and we have been able to rebound nicely and not worry to much about it.”
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, Granlund tied it and Duchene put the Stars ahead to stay with a second-effort score that made it 4-3.
“We let down our guard for five six minutes and got into some penalty trouble,” Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner explained after the game. “It is something for us to learn from, myself included obviously, and get better from there.”
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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.
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 7 1/2 minutes into this opener, but quickly turned that around in the third period.
“We have to kill better,” Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse said after the game. “Simple as that.”
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 added two assists.
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