Tyler Seguin scored twice in a three-point game and Matt Duchene netted the third-period game-winning goal to give the host Dallas Stars a 6-3 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday in the opener of the Western Conference finals.
Miro Heiskanen and Mikael Granlund each collected one goal and one assist while Esa Lindell added a goal for Dallas, which scored a trio of third-period power-play markers in a five-goal outburst to erase a 3-1 deficit.
Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger made 24 saves.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will be Friday in Dallas.
Leon Draisaitl scored once in a three-point performance for the Oilers. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins netted one goal and one assist, and Evan Bouchard scored once.
Edmonton’s Connor McDavid collected a pair of assists, and goaltender Stuart Skinner stopped 22 shots.
Despite trailing by two goals, the Stars rallied against an Oilers squad known for its comebacks in this year’s playoffs.
Heiskanen’s power-play goal 32 seconds into the third period, a long point shot through the screen, made it a one-goal game, and Granlund tied the clash with another man-advantage marker at 3:49, a rocket of a wrist shot from the right dot.
Duchene put the Stars ahead for good at 5:58 with another power-play goal, chipping home a loose puck during a scramble. It was his first goal of this year’s playoffs.
Edmonton had a push, but it was quashed when Seguin notched his second of the game at 16:02 by deflecting a high shot. Lindell added an empty-net goal 43 seconds later to round out the scoring.
After the clubs traded first-period goals, the Oilers staked a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
Draisaitl opened the scoring at the 10:19 mark, but Seguin answered five minutes later with a breakaway tally that ended Skinner’s shutout streak at 142 minutes and 42 seconds.
Nugent-Hopkins put the Oilers ahead for a second time at 6:08 of the second period with Edmonton’s first road power-play goal of the playoffs, and Bouchard made it a 3-1 game 100 seconds later.
–Field Level Media
