Los Angeles (AFP) – Connor McDavid scored 32 seconds into the second overtime period to lift the Edmonton Oilers to a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars in game one of their NHL Western Conference final clash Thursday.
Edmonton captain McDavid redirected a centering pass from Evan Bouchard past Stars goalie Jake Oettinger to seal the win against the Western Conference top seeds.
Dallas host game two of the best-of-seven series on Saturday.
The Oilers, with goals from Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman, had led 2-0, but Tyler Seguin scored twice to tie it up.
McDavid was denied in the first overtime, firing from in front of the net only for Oettinger to make a spectacular stick save.
Oettinger finished with 35 saves and Stuart Skinner also made 35 saves for the second-seeded Oilers.
Draisaitl put Edmonton up 1-0 less than a minute into the second period when he managed to latch onto a bouncing puck and fired past Oettinger.
Hyman made it 2-0 at 4:17 of the second, shrugging off Stars defenseman Chris Tanev and sliding a shot between Oettinger’s pads.
Seguin cut the lead to 2-1 at 6:11 of the second after Edmonton’s Brett Kulak made a clumsy clearance attempt and the puck found the stick of Stars captain Jamie Benn, who eluded Skinner and found Seguin.
Seguin scored on a rebound to tie it at 2-2 at 16:37 of the third.
The Stars, 0-for-3 on power plays in regulation, failed to capitalize on a man advantage in the first overtime also, coming up empty when a four-minute double minor was called on McDavid for high sticking.
© 2024 AFP
