GAME RECAP: Stars 5, Oilers 3 (Game 3)

EDMONTON, AB – Jason Robertson recorded a hat-trick on Monday to power the Stars to a 5-3 victory over the Oilers in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final at Rogers Place.

Robertson scored two of Dallas' three goals over a 3:33 stretch of the middle frame that turned a 2-0 lead for the Blue & Orange into a 3-2 deficit before Adam Henrique marked his return from a seven-game injury absence on a tight-angle redirection that came with 53 seconds left in the period.

"Those shifts after goals against are always big and important to just simplifying and going right back at them and establishing our game again," said Henrique. "The first period was a great period. I thought we played fast, played our game, forechecked and we were making plays. But then, in the first ten minutes of the second, we got away from that and they had their foot on the gas."

After defenceman Vincent Desharnais rattled the post in the final frame. Robertson completed his hat-trick with over eight minutes remaining in regulation on a two-on-one down low with returning forward Roope Hintz, banking the game-winning goal off Stuart Skinner from a tight angle for the critical one-goal lead that was doubled on an empty-net goal from Miro Heiskanen inside the final two minutes.

"You could definitely feel their urgency, their desperation," Connor McDavid said. "Their level went up, and we just didn't match it."

McDavid hit 100 career playoff points with a goal and assist in the defeat, setting up his winger Zach Hyman for his league-leading 13th goal of the playoffs in the first period before he notched his fourth of the playoffs unassisted at 12:23 of the opening period.

"They all sting. Losing sucks," he said. "Obviously, series are short and you only get a handful of games. I'm not going to say we gave it away. It was 40 minutes and we were able to wrestle it back, but we just didn't find a way again."

Stuart Skinner made 17 saves of 21 shots, while Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 27 of 30 for the victory – including five on the power play – with Edmonton's man advantage going 0-for-2 in Game 3 to fall to 1-for-16 (6.3 percent) in their last six games.

The Oilers' penalty kill turned away two Dallas power plays to extend their successful kill streak to 21 straight penalties, but the Stars' second-period push at even strength would help the visitors improve to 6-1 on the road in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs and take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Game 4 will be back at Rogers Place on Wednesday at 6:30 pm MT.

FIRST PERIOD

The Oilers assembled one of their best opening periods of the playoffs to build themselves an early two-goal lead, playing in front of their home fans in the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2022 and the first time this postseason since Game 6 of the Second Round on May 18 against Vancouver.

Edmonton's top line continued their team's efficiency at five-on-five this series early in Game 3 with their fastest goal of the playoffs (2:02) after Zach Hyman parked himself in the blue paint and had McDavid's shot from the top of the right circle go off his chest and in for his league-leading 13th goal in 15 playoff games, becoming the 15th Oiler to hit lucky No. 13 for goals in a single postseason.

McDavid marked his 100th career playoff point 5:35 later after winning a back-door battle against Tyler Seguin at the same post where Hyman scored from earlier in the period, out-muscling the forward before it went in off his stick for the captain's 33rd career playoff goal on an unassisted marker that unofficially was the product of a great move by Ekholm rounding the net and sending it far side.

With only 64 career playoff games to his name, McDavid is the fourth fastest player in NHL history to reach the century for post-season points, trailing Leon Draisaitl (60), Mario Lemieux (50) and Wayne Gretzky (46) in a top-five with Jari Kurri (67) that includes four Oilers on that list.

McDavid's two points in the first period made it 32 multi-point playoff performances over his career and tied him with Leon Draisaitl for the playoff scoring lead with 25 points (4G, 21A).

SECOND PERIOD

For all the good Edmonton had created themselves in the first period, it all came undone when they found themselves unable to clear pucks from their own zone to contribute to Dallas storming back to take a 3-2 lead before Henrique tied things up in the last minute of the frame.

"It was a complete reversal of the first period," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "I think they were ready to come out hard and have a good push. Hopefully, things would just continue sailing the way they had in the first period, but it caught us by surprise."

"I think we had our start that we needed, but we took our foot off the pedal."

The Oilers allowed three goals in the second period which all were the result of being unable to clear the puck from their own zone, beginning with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' failure to push the puck over the blueline before it led to Robertson pounding a one-timer from the left face-off dot that beat Stuart Skinner clean over the left shoulder.

"A real good start, and then, I'm not sure where those 10-to-15 minutes come from, but it's as bad as it's been throughout the playoffs," McDavid said. "We gave them a chance to get back in the game. We came back and tied it after two, but we just didn't find a way."

Just two-and-a-half minutes later, Robertson was the one who'd finish off a goalmouth scramble to tie the game at 2-2 by chipping a backhand into the top shelf from the hashmarks after both Ekholm and Nugent-Hopkins couldn't get their sticks on the puck for a clearance near the blueline. The American picked up the puck and took the next shot toward goal, producing the rebound around the crease that led to his equalizing goal.

It was only 1:03 later when the Oilers found themselves trailing off another error in their own end, this time from Vincent Desharnais trying to knock the puck past Jamie Benn near the Dallas bench.

The Stars' captain kept it in at the blueline and came around the net to find Logan Stankoven, who had it bounce off his shin pad from the pressure applied behind him by Leon Draisaitl before it found its way to Wyatt Johnston for an easy goal, completely flipping the script in Game 3 over a 3:33 stretch of the period by making it 3-2 for Dallas.

"Whether it's better puck movement from our defencemen or better support from our forwards, it's usually just not one or the other, but it's important to get those pucks out and keep them moving into our forwards' hands," Knoblauch said.

Skinner had to come up big on a breakaway for Mason Marchment to send the winger's backhand out of play after he got a piece to it with his left arm, avoiding extra danger for the Oilers and gaining some momentum for his team.

"I think if they get that one, it puts us in a much more difficult situation," Skinner said. "He made a really nice move. I was able to stay a little bit patient, got a solid piece of the puck and got it into the mesh. I was pretty happy going back to the bench after that save and it gave us a little bit of momentum. I think after that, we started rolling."

It would take the Oilers over 13 minutes to get their first shot of the period, but they finished the third period on a high note when their trade-deadline acquisition in Adam Henrique roofed a redirection from in tight to get some energy back in the building before the intermission.

Warren Foegele raced in on the forecheck and broke up Jake Oettinger's pass from behind the net, getting the puck to Connor Brown along the goal line for a pass into the crease for Henrique, who was planted in front to deflect it up and under the bar for his second goal of the playoffs in his return from a seven-game absence.

"You never know what a player's going to bring after a long stretch of not playing," Knoblauch said. "He's playing really well in the playoffs, but just the tempo and the speed and how fast it is in the playoffs, usually it's very difficult for a player to find their game, but I don't think he had any problems. He made a lot of nice plays – obviously with the goal – and I thought he was pretty good on the face-off dot, and it was nice having Henrique back with us.

"Hopefully, he just continues to build on his game."

THIRD PERIOD

Despite Edmonton's response and a 13-3 shot advantage over the final 20 minutes, Dallas still delivered on their comeback to take the series lead in the Western Conference Final.

"Fortunately, we were able to stop the damage and tie it up in the second period and it came down to a 20-minute game," Knoblauch said. "It could've gone either way in that third period, but unfortunately, we came out on the wrong end of it."

It would've been a different story if Desharnais' point shot before the midway mark of the period didn't strike the far post through a screen, with the hulking 6-foot-7 defender coming inches away from giving the Oilers the lead with his first goal since the 2023 Heritage Classic back in November.

"That was almost our play," Knoblauch said. "The effort's been there. We've had our opportunities to score goals in the third period. We were talking about goalscoring after Game 2, and we were able to find some goals. It's going to come."

Skinner came across with his left pad to deny Matt Duchene on a partial breakaway less than two minutes later, but it was that familiar face – and a familiar problem for Edmonton – that would lead to Robertson converting the hat-trick from a tight angle with over eight minutes to go in regulation.

A clash of sticks between Cody Ceci and Tyler Seguin inside the left circle propelled the puck backwards to create a two-on-one down low between Robertson and Hintz, where the two-goal scorer picked up his third by banking it off the back of Skinner for a 3-2 lead.

"We had it, we weren't able to get it out, and then, they just took advantage there," Skinner said. "Two guys at the net. A really quick two-on-one. So I made the read to get out and thought he would shoot five-hole when I went down. He got me to bite, went around and banked it off me. I'd have to watch it back to see exactly how it happened, but I tried my best in the quickness of the situation and Robertson was able to make a pretty good play. But I've got to save it in that situation."

The Oilers pulled Skinner with 2:36 left for an offensive-zone faceoff, but the six-on-five didn't result in anything but a full 200-foot shot from Miro Heiskanen that would slide into Edmonton's yawning cage for a 5-3 score that stood up as the final.

"We didn't give up much. We didn't get much either. It was a pretty tight checking period," McDavid said. "Obviously, the margins are really small in the series and it was pretty similar to the last third period in Game 2. It was tight-checking, and they found a way to get one and we didn't."