Jason Robertson completed a hat trick with the game-winning goal midway through the third period to lead the visiting Dallas Stars a 5-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday in the Western Conference final.
Dallas leads the best-of-seven Stanley Cup playoff series 2-1 and will look to take a stranglehold Wednesday in Game 4, also in Edmonton.
Wyatt Johnston and Miro Heiskanen also scored for the Stars, who have won six of seven road games during the playoffs. Goaltender Jake Oettinger made 26 saves.
Roope Hintz, in his first game back in the lineup after missing four clashes due to injury, collected two assists, as did Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin.
Zach Hyman, Connor McDavid and Adam Henrique scored for the Oilers, who held a 2-0 lead less than eight minutes into the game. Goalie Stuart Skinner stopped 17 shots.
With the potential of overtime looming, Robertson gained the puck deep in Edmonton territory and banked a close-in chance off Skinner and into the net for his sixth goal of the playoffs with 8:06 remaining in regulation.
Heiskanen’s empty-net goal with 1:52 remaining, also his sixth goal of the playoffs, sealed the win.
The Oilers appeared in control thanks to a torrid first period. Hyman kicked off the back-and-forth affair with his 13th goal of the playoffs at 2:02. He was in the crease, behind the goalie, when McDavid’s shot deflected off him and into the net.
McDavid doubled the lead at the 7:37 mark by holding off a check while slipping a loose puck into the cage for his fourth of the playoffs.
But the Stars roared back after the intermission and Robertson put them on the board at 5:35 of the second period when he unloaded a top-corner one-timer from the left face-off dot.
Robertson tied the clash at 8:05 of the second period when he lifted a long backhand shot from the slot during a flurry for his second of the night, and Johnston gave Dallas a 3-2 lead 63 seconds later by pouncing on a loose puck at the doorstep for his eighth of the postseason.
But Henrique, who returned after missing the past seven games, pulled Edmonton even by neatly redirecting a pass for his second goal of the playoffs with 52.5 seconds remaining in the second period.
–Field Level Media