DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Stars got a tying goal from Tyler Seguin late in regulation, then had a four-minute power play early in overtime in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final.
That still wasn't enough to keep them from their seventh consecutive series-opening loss since 2022, with Edmonton captain Connor McDavid scoring 32 seconds into the second overtime to give the Oilers a 3-2 victory Thursday night.
The opening-game losing streak includes all three Game 1s at home this postseason, with the Stars rebounding in the opening rounds this year by knocking out the last two Stanley Cup champions.
“In a perfect world we’d like to win Game 1. We’d like to win every series in four straight too but it doesn’t happen," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “The main thing is you’ve got to find a way to survive and move on. We’ve got to park this game. We’ve been in this situation before.”
Jason Robertson had a shot that hit off the post during the extended power play in overtime, which came after McDavid got a double-minor penalty for a high stick that left Matt Duchene with blood on his lip.
“Obviously, you’ve got to score, that double minor,” DeBoer said. “That’s probably the game right there.”
The Stars finished 0 for 5 on the power play, including four shots on goal with a man advantage in overtime.
Seguin, who scored both goals for the Stars, had a long wrister just over six minutes into OT that goalie Stuart Skinner swatted with his stick out of the air and into the crowd.
“I thought we played a good hockey game," Seguin said. "If it was my choice we would have started two days earlier. It was nice to get a little break, but the break got a little long."
Dallas had wrapped up its second-round series with a double-overtime win at Colorado in Game 6 last Friday night.
The Stars came back to win that series after the Avalanche won the opener 4-3 in overtime. Dallas actually started this postseason by losing its first two games at home against Vegas, last year's Stanley Cup champion, before going seven games and then rolling right into the second round.
Game 2 is Saturday night in Dallas, where the Stars are 3-5 this postseason.
After making the playoffs as the eighth seed in 2022, the Stars dropped their opener at Calgary before forcing a Game 7 in that first-round series that they lost in overtime on the road. They went three rounds last postseason, dropping Game 1 each time.
When asked why Game 1s have been so hard, Seguin responded, “If I knew that I’d promise we’d probably change it up.”
The only way the Stars will get another one this postseason is if they come back again — like they have four of the previous six times — and make the Stanley Cup Final.
“I think we’ve had some Game 1s where we’ve really been feeling it out and laying a few eggs,” Seguin said. “That wasn’t the case tonight. This was a little different. So yeah, lot of things to build off of.”
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
