EDMONTON — Connor McDavid was flying. The Edmonton Oilers were buzzing. An orange-and-blue Rogers Place bubbled with excitement following the home side's electric opening 20 minutes Monday.
The dazed Dallas Stars wobbled down the tunnel to the locker room. They emerged for the second period a completely different team. Jason Robertson scored twice in quick succession after the intermission to erase a 2-0 deficit before completing his first playoff hat trick with a bank-shot winner in the third as Dallas topped Edmonton 5-3 to take a 2-1 lead in the NHL's Western Conference final.
"A real good start," said McDavid, who had a goal and an assist as part of his team's early barrage. "I'm not sure where those 10, 15 minutes come from, but it's as bad as it's been throughout the playoffs." Dallas scored three times and led 13-0 on the shot clock in the second before Edmonton finally tested Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger.
"Complete reversal," Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said. "They were really ready to come out hard and have a good push, and we were hoping things would just continue sailing. Took our foot off the pedal.
" Wyatt Johnston and Miro Heiskanen, into the empty net, provided the rest of the offence for Dallas. Oettinger made 26 saves. Roope Hintz, Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn registered two assists each.
Zach Hyman and Adam Henrique had the other goals for Edmonton, which got 17 stops from Stuart Skinner. Henrique returned to the lineup after sitting out seven of the.
