Jason Robertson finished his first career play-off hat trick with the tie-breaking goal in the third period as the Dallas Stars rallied for a 5-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Monday's Game 3 of the Western Conference Final.
Wyatt Johnston and Miro Heiskanen also had goals to give the Central Division champion Stars a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven series despite a 2-0 deficit after one period.
Dallas also got a lift from the return of Roope Hintz, who assisted on Robertson's first two goals in his first appearance since missing the team's last four games with an upper-body injury.
Jake Oettinger also had a hand in the victory, as the Dallas goaltender withstood an early and late barrage of shots to record 27 saves and outplay counterpart Stuart Skinner, who stopped just 17 shots for Edmonton.
The Stars improved to 6-1 on the road in this post-season and can move a win away from their second trip to the Stanley Cup Final in five years in Wednesday's Game 4, which will also take place in Edmonton.
Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who built a 2-0 lead just 7:37 in before the Stars rallied with three straight goals in the second period.
Robertson began the comeback with a pair of goals 2:30 apart, with the second coming 8:05 into the stanza when he backhanded a loose puck over Skinner's shoulder.
Dallas, which outshot the Oilers by a 16-7 margin in the second period, needed only 63 seconds to strike again. Jamie Benn out-raced an Edmonton defender for the puck behind the Oilers' net and the Stars got it into the crease for an awaiting Johnston, who hammered home a close-range shot for his eighth goal of the post-season.
Edmonton would recover, however, to tie the game 53 seconds before the second intermission. Warren Foegele forced a turnover in the Dallas zone and teammate Connor Brown corralled the puck before delivering a centering pass that Adam Henrique knocked past Oettinger to forge a 3-3 deadlock.
Henrique was playing for the first time since May 10 after missing seven straight games with an ankle injury.
The Oilers then owned a 13-3 shot advantage in the third period, but still fell behind when Robertson jammed the puck past Skinner with 8:06 remaining to complete his hat trick.
Oettinger made the lead hold up before Heiskanen scored into an empty net with 1:52 left shortly after Skinner was pulled for an extra attacker.
Edmonton got the game off to a flying start when Zach Hyman deflected McDavid's chance on net past Oettinger just 2:02 in. The goal was Hyman's league-leading 13th of this post-season.
McDavid increased the lead just 5:35 later by knocking in a loose puck sent to the Dallas net by teammate Mattias Ekholm.
NHL: McDavid, Oilers drag Panthers back to Edmonton for Game 6
Connor McDavid scored two goals and set up two others and Evan Bouchard had three assists as the Edmonton Oilers held on for a 5-3 victory over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night to force Game 6 in the Stanley Cup Final.
Connor Brown, Zach Hyman and Corey Perry also scored for the Oilers, who staved off elimination again to send the series back to Edmonton for Game 6 on Friday.
The Oilers scored the game’s first three goals but had to hold off the Panthers down the stretch and could finally breathe when McDavid scored into an empty net with 19 seconds remaining.
Matthew Tkachuk and Evan Rodrigues had a goal and an assist apiece for Florida, which will see its 30-years-and-counting wait for the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title last at least three more days.
Four more points increased McDavid’s playoff total to 42, the fourth-most in a single postseason in NHL history. The only players ahead of him are Wayne Gretzky (47 in 1985), Mario Lemieux (44 in 1991) and Gretzky (43 in 1988).
This game started just as Game 4 did, with the Oilers scoring short-handed for a 1-0 lead. Brown tallied this time after assisting on Nike Mikkola’s tally on Saturday night.
Hyman doubled the advantage on the power play at 1:58 of the middle period and McDavid made it 3-0 just over three minutes later.
Tkachuk got Florida on the board 1:53 later, but Perry restored the three-goal cushion on a power play with 8:06 left in the second. Rodrigues cut the deficit to 4-2 14 seconds later.
The Panthers were unable to get the equaliser as Stuart Skinner finished with 29 saves.
NHL: Oilers hammer Panthers to avoid sweep in Stanley Cup Final
Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists and the Edmonton Oilers chased playoff MVP candidate Sergei Bobrovsky to extend their season and avoid a sweep with an 8-1 drubbing of the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night.
Dylan Holloway scored twice with an assist and Adam Henrique, Mattias Janmark, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse and Ryan McLeod also had goals for the Oilers, who busted out in a big way after they were held to four goals in the first three games of the series.
McDavid scored his first goal of the series, and his three assists gave him 32 to move past Wayne Gretzky (1988) for the most in a single postseason.
Stuart Skinner had his best game of the Cup final with 32 saves.
Bobrovsky was replaced by Anthony Stolarz after Nurse’s goal at 4:59 of the second period made it 5-1. He allowed five goals on 16 shots after yielding four goals on 86 shots in Games 1, 2 and 3.
The Panthers can clinch the franchise’s first Stanley Cup at home in Game 5 on Tuesday night.
Edmonton is bidding to become the first team since the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs to erase a 3-0 series deficit at this stage of the playoffs.
Janmark got the Oilers going with a short-handed goal 3:11 into the game and Henrique’s tally 3 1/2 minutes later upped the advantage.
Vladimir Tarasenko’s goal put the Panthers on the board, but Holloway restored the two-goal lead with 5:12 left in the opening period.
McDavid scored 73 seconds into the second period and Nurse’s goal sent Bobrovsky to the bench.
NHL: Panthers hold on to move within win of Stanley Cup title
Sam Reinhart and Aleksander Barkov each had a goal and an assist and the Florida Panthers held on for a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers to take a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night.
Vladimir Tarasenko and Sam Bennett also scored for the Panthers, who can wrap up the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title in Game 4 in Edmonton on Saturday night.
Florida carried a 4-1 lead into the third period, but Philip Broberg scored at 6:02 and Ryan McLeod made it a one-goal game with 5:17 remaining.
The Oilers, however, could not beat Sergei Bobrovsky again and now face the daunting task of trying to win four straight games to bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada for the first time since 1993 – months before the Panthers’ inaugural season.
Only four teams in league playoff history (1975 New York Islanders, 2010 Philadelphia Flyers and 2014 Los Angeles Kings) have won a series after losing the first three games and only once in the final (1942 Toronto Maple Leafs).
Bobrovsky finished with 32 saves to win his sixth straight start. He allowed more than two goals for the first time during that span.
The Panthers showed no ill effects from waiting to fly from South Florida to Alberta, a decision that was questioned when their plane was delayed by storms and got in a few hours late Wednesday – less than 24 hours before puck drop.
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