Stars score 3 PP goals in 5 1/2 minutes early in 3rd, rally to beat Oilers 6-3 in Game 1

DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Stars powered their way to a series-opening victory in their Western Conference final rematch with the Edmonton Oilers.

And it was quick turnaround.

Miro Heiskanen, Mikael Granlund and Matt Duchene scored power-play goals in a 5:26 span early in the third period, when the Stars overcame a two-goal deficit in a 6-3 victory Wednesday night.

“It started with a power play," Duchene said. "You get one right way, and it’s like, ‘Hey, we’re back in it now with momentum.’ Get another one right away.”

Dallas opened the third period with a man advantage from a penalty that carried over from the second. Heiskanen scored 32 seconds in on a shot from near the blue line, Granlund tied it at 3 and Duchene put the Stars ahead to stay with a second-effort score.

“I didn’t feel through 40 minutes that we had made (the Oilers) earn the position they were in. so, guys responded. We got fortunate. We got some power-play goals,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. "Happy for our power play. It took a lot of heat last year at this point of the year. it was the difference tonight for us, so it’s great.''

Tyler Seguin had two goals and an assist for the Stars. Esa Lindell added a empty-netter that went almost the entire length of the ice for their first five-goal third period in a playoff game. Jake Oettinger stopped 24 shots.

Game 2 is Friday night in Dallas.

Dallas went 0 for 14 on power plays in losing the West final last year in six games, and gave up two short-handed goals in the process. The Stars also failed to convert with a man advantage only 7 1/2 minutes into this opener, but quickly turned that around in the third period.

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists for the rested Oilers, who played for the first time since wrapping up their second-round series a week earlier in Game 5 at Vegas. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a power-play goal and an assist, defenseman Evan Bouchard had his fifth goal and Connor McDavid two assists.

Stuart Skinner, who had lost his starting job in these playoffs before Calvin Pickard got hurt in the last series, stopped 22 of 27 shots. Skinner had closed out the Golden Knights with consecutive shutouts.

“Goals have been going in a little differently, in different ways. Again, it’s a different series so they show us different things,” Skinner said. “The PK, it’s been a little bit up and down. It was bad at the start of the first round then got better. It was great all series against Vegas and (now) a struggle for one game. I mean, again, it's one game.”

Heiskanen and Duchene both scored for the first time this postseason.

It was only the fourth game for Heiskanen since missing the last 32 regular-season games and first 10 playoff games because of left knee surgery. He scored a wrister from near the boards just inside the blue line.

Duchene got his goal after his initial shot went off teammate Roope Hintz, who was laid out on the ice after getting knocked down. The puck went right back to Duchene, who then flicked it into the net.

“The first one that hit him, I’m like, this is kind of par for the course this postseason for me. If there’s something that could go wrong, it did, and then it comes back and goes in,” Duchene said. “I couldn’t believe I still had room. Kind of a funny one. But it feels good.”

The Stars won their seventh consecutive home game this postseason, a first since the franchise moved to Dallas in 1993. The Stars also have won back-to-back series openers after losing eight consecutive Game 1s.

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) clears the goal against Dallas Stars center Sam Steel (18) during the first period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals in the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Dallas Stars center Mikael Granlund (64) celebrates a goal with teammates Jason Robertson (21) and Mason Marchment during the third period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals in the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs against the Edmonton Oilers, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin (91) celebrates his goal with teammate center Sam Steel (18) during the third period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals in the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs against the Edmonton Oilers, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) and defenseman John Klingberg (36) defend the goal against Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin (91) during the third period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals in the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl (29) celebrates his goal with the bench during the first period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals in the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs against the Dallas Stars, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin (91) scores a goal against Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) during the first period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals in the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs against the Dallas Stars, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) defends the goal during the first period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals in the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs against the Dallas Stars, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Edmonton Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (93) celebrates his goal with teammate Connor McDavid (97) as Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) and defenseman Esa Lindell (23) look on during the second period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals in the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen (4) skates with the puck against Edmonton Oilers right wing Connor Brown (28) during the second period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals in the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Shreyas Iyer was provisionally named in India’s squad on Saturday for the home one-day international series against New Zealand starting Jan. 11.

India will host the Black Caps in a white-ball engagement — three ODIs and five T20s — in the build-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Iyer returns to the international fold after sustaining a spleen injury during an ODI against Australia in Sydney last October.

His selection is subject to fitness clearance from BCCI’s medical team and he will return as India’s vice-captain for the three-match series.

Skipper Shubman Gill also returns, after he missed the ODI series against South Africa in December. He had a neck spasm in the test series earlier, and subsequently played in the T20s against the Proteas.

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Verma missed out. Gaikwad had scored a maiden ODI hundred against South Africa in Visakhapatnam.

Rishabh Pant is retained as second keeper-batter behind Lokesh Rahul, who had stood in as captain against the Proteas.

Star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had both participated in the domestic List A tournament — Vijay Hazare Trophy — and return to the international stage for the ODIs.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya is fit, but not sufficiently enough to bowl 10 overs in an ODI. Thus, he has been rested further ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup (in India and Sri Lanka) starting Feb. 7. Nitish Kumar Reddy is included in the squad.

Pacer Mohammed Siraj returns to lead the bowling lineup with Jasprit Bumrah rested again. Siraj had missed the South Africa series because of workload management.

The three ODIs will be played in Vadodara (Jan. 11), Rajkot (Jan. 14) and Indore (Jan. 18), with the five-match T20 series starting Jan. 21.

Squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

FILE - Captain of Punjab Kings Shreyas Iyer addresses a news conference on the eve of the final match of Indian Premier League at Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, File)