Oilers bounce Stars, clinch finals rematch vs. Panthers

The Edmonton Oilers get their shot at revenge in the Stanley Cup Final after claiming a 6-3 road victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday to close out the Western Conference finals.

Connor McDavid collected one goal and one assist as the Oilers dispatched the Stars in five games in the best-of-seven series and set up a rematch of last year’s finals against the Panthers, won by Florida in seven games. Game 1 will be Wednesday at Edmonton.

Corey Perry, Mattias Janmark, Jeff Skinner, Evander Kane and Kasperi Kapanen also scored for the Oilers, who have won 12 of their last 14 playoff games and eliminated the Stars in the conference finals for the second consecutive year.

Goaltender Stuart Skinner made 14 saves.

Jason Robertson scored twice and Roope Hintz tallied once for Dallas, which has lost out in the Stanley Cup chase in the third round three straight years.

Starting goalie Jake Oettinger was pulled after surrendering goals on the first two shots he faced. Casey DeSmith made 17 saves in relief.

Sensing their chance to close out the series, the Oilers staked an early 3-0 lead. Perry opened the scoring at 2:31 when he redirected McDavid’s centering pass for the power-play marker.

On Perry’s goal, McDavid collected his 100th career playoff assist in his 90th game, the second fastest player to hit the century mark for postseason helpers, behind only Wayne Gretzky (70 games).

Janmark doubled the lead at 7:09 by sliding home a breakaway chance and then Jeff Skinner – playing his first game since the playoff opener – made it a 3-0 affair by banging home a rebound tally 58 seconds later for his first career playoff goal.

The Stars pushed back but could not draw even. Robertson scored for the third consecutive game when he gained a loose puck in the slot and rang a shot off the post at 11:40 of the opening frame, and Hintz made it a one-goal game with a one-timer from the slot at 12:27 of the second period.

However, McDavid restored Edmonton’s two-goal lead two minutes later with a breakaway tally.

Robertson’s second of the game, a five-hole shot off the rush, again brought the Stars within one goal 38 seconds into the third period.

But Kane responded at 3:21 of the period when his pass attempt banked off a defender and into the net to make it 5-3. Kapanen’s empty-net goal rounded out the scoring.

Dallas failed to record a shot on goal in the final 16 minutes and 17 seconds of the game.

–Field Level Media