Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 33: Stars’ special teams power comeback over Oilers

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are back, which means that for the next two months, we’ll get non-stop exciting action in the NHL as we witness history in another team looking to win a championship. Here at Daily Faceoff, we’ll be keeping you in the loop of everything that happened in the playoffs, every day until the Stanley Cup is hoisted in June.

The opening contest in the Western Conference Final was a tale of two games. However, thanks to a parade to the penalty box, the Dallas Stars’ special teams were able to rally in the final 20 minutes, scoring five goals in the third period on their way to a 6-3 victory.

The Oilers were well in control through 40 minutes, taking a 3-1 lead heading into the third period. However, the Edmonton Oilers got themselves into penalty trouble, and the team’s abysmal penalty kill cost them.

With the Stars on the power play just 32 seconds into the third, a point shot from defenseman Miro Heiskanen snuck its way by Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner. Just over three minutes later, with Corey Perry in the penalty box, Mikael Granlund kept his impressive postseason going, ripping a shot under the bar to tie the game at three.

Then, with Evander Kane in the box a couple of minutes later, a mad scramble around the Oilers net led to Matt Duchene scoring his first of the playoffs. Dallas scored three goals in 5:26 to take its first lead of the game.

The Stars didn’t stop there.

After Edmonton started to settle down and tried pressing for the equalizer, Sam Steel made a beautiful play in transition to get by Jake Walman. His shot ended up deflecting off Tyler Seguin and in for his second game of the game, putting the Stars up by two.

Esa Lindell capped off the vigorous comeback with an empty-netter, giving the Stars a 1-0 lead in the series.

The Oilers’ shorthanded play doomed them in Game 1. Dallas went 3-for-4 on the man advantage on Wednesday night. With the three goals allowed, Edmonton’s penalty kill has a measly 62.2 percent success rate, second-worst among teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Seguin had himself a night, scoring twice and picking up an assist. Granlund and Heiskanen each notched a goal and an assist, while Jake Oettinger made 24 saves in the win.

Skinner was credited with 22 saves in his fourth loss of the playoffs. Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins potted a goal and an assist each in the loss, with Evan Bouchard scoring his fifth of the postseason as well.

Game 2 is back in Dallas on Friday night. Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 8 p.m. ET.