Stars show sense of urgency in Game 1 comeback win in Western Conference Final

DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars lost in the Western Conference Final each of the past two years, so they felt a sense of urgency as they sat in the locker room during the second intermission Wednesday, trailing the Edmonton Oilers by two.

They could not afford to waste the next 20 minutes. They erupted for three straight power-play goals in the third period in a stunning, 6-3 comeback win in Game 1 of the conference final at American Airlines Center.

“It’s been pretty cool to be here three years in a row, but you don’t get to be here four or five years in a row, right?” Stars forward Tyler Seguin said. “So, you’ve got to find ways different nights, whether it’s tonight being down 3-1 or next game being up 3-1 and finishing 5-1. You can’t just try to respond the next game. I think that was the message. We’ve got to respond right now.”

The Stars lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in six games two years ago and to the Oilers in six games last year. Each time, they lost Game 1, putting themselves in an early hole.

Through two periods Wednesday, it didn’t look like it would be different this time. The Oilers had won eight of their past nine games. Not only did they lead 3-1, but they had a 45-35 advantage in shot attempts. Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid were buzzing.

“We were probably a little too passive on it at times, but it’s hard not to be when you have gifted players like that coming at you full speed,” Stars forward Matt Duchene said. “They both played incredible tonight.”

There is something about this Dallas team, though. Remember Game 7 of the first round against the Colorado Avalanche? The Stars fell behind 2-0 early in the third period, and then Mikko Rantanen led them to a 4-3 comeback win.

“There’s a calmness to our group,” Seguin said. “There always has been. I’ve seen it over the last few years, and I don’t know where it kind of really started. But we have a lot of belief in us. We never really think we’re full out of a game.”

The Stars went 0-for-14 on the power play against the Oilers in the conference final last year, and they struggled on the power play through the first two periods Wednesday. But sometimes one shot is all it takes to turn things around.

Miro Heiskanen fired a wrist shot from the left point through traffic and into the net on the power play 32 seconds into the third period. The fans roared.

“I think you never know when that switch is going to go,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “Obviously, being at home here for this game, we get that first goal, the crowd gets into it. Momentum shifts really quickly, and that’s the benefit of being at home here for Game 1.”

Suddenly, Dallas’ deficit was only 3-2.

“You get some life right there,” Duchene said. “At that point, you’re like, ‘OK, we’re back in this.’ And away you go.”

Mikael Granlund ripped a shot from the right circle under the bar on the power play at 3:49 to tie it 3-3.

Then Duchene banged one home at the side of the net on the power play at 5:58, giving Dallas a 4-3 lead. He held up his arms extra long in relief as much as celebration. After 13 games without a goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he finally had his first.

Seguin scored his second of the game at 16:02, and Esa Lindell scored into an empty net to ice it at 16:45.

Dallas became the first team in NHL history to win multiple games in regulation after trailing by two goals or more in the third period in a playoff year.

“Those are big games at this time of year,” Seguin said. “Just try to find a way to get a win. That’s a great hockey team over there in Edmonton, so we’ll take it and run.”

There was little jubilation afterward. DeBoer said the Stars can be -- and must be -- better, at least 5-on-5.

As Seguin and Duchene sat side by side on a podium for interviews, they smiled and cracked jokes, but they seemed serious and unsatisfied too. Seguin hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since he was a 19-year-old rookie with the Boston Bruins in 2011. Duchene has never won it.

Who knows if they’ll have this opportunity again? They don’t want to waste it.

The time is now.

“You can probably tell by our body language right now that we’re like, ‘We’re happy we won, but there’s so much work left to do,’” Duchene said. “That’s the focus, and at the end of the day, we have seven wins left to get to reach our goal, and until you get that last one, there’s no time to sit in a game win or lose.”