Stars power play comes alive quickly in WCF after going empty last year
Published
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Stars aren't getting shut out on the power play in the Western Conference final against Edmonton this time.
They took full advantage of their opportunities in the third period of Game 1 in this series, with three power-play goals in a game-turning 5:26 span on way to a 6-3 victory Wednesday night, a year after going 0 for 14 in six playoff games against the Oilers.
“It’s great that we got some goals there and hopefully we can keep doing that,” said Miro Heiskanen, whose got the first of the trio only 32 seconds into the final period.
“Happy for our power play. It took a lot of heat last year at this point of the year," coach Pete DeBoer said. "It was the difference tonight for us, so it’s great.″
Mikael Granlund tied it at 3 with his power-play goal and Matt Duchene then put the Stars ahead to stay.
That trio of power-play goals made the Stars the first team in Stanley Cup playoff history to earn multiple wins in regulation of the same postseason after being down two goals in the third period. In Game 7 of the first round against Colorado, Dallas overcame a 2-0 deficit in the third period on way to a 4-2 series-clinching win.
Dallas is only the second team since 1934, when power-play goals were first officially tracked, to have three of them in the opening six minutes of a playoff period. The other was the New York Rangers, with three in the first 4:36 of the third period on way to a 7-2 win over Montreal in Game 1 of the 2014 Eastern Conference final.
While the Stars had that lingering goose egg from last year's West final, then failed to convert on a power play 7 1/2 minutes into this series opener against Edmonton, they have been good on special teams throughout this postseason.
They entered this series ranked third among playoff teams both for converting power plays (30.8%) and killing penalties (86.1%). Their power play was the best among any teams that played more than one round, and the teams better on PKs were Eastern Conference finalists Carolina and Florida.
“The first power play we had was a little bit like the rest of our game. our execution was a little off, we didn’t make great plays with the puck, we didn’t have great support,” DeBoer said. “I thought in the third, we came out and we executed. I think you never know when that switch is going to go.
"Obviously, being at home here for this game, we get that first goal, the crowd gets into it, momentum shifts really quickly. That’s the benefit of being at home here for Game 1.”
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl