Oilers get even with 3-0 win over Stars in Game 2 of the West final

DALLAS (AP) — Connor Brown scored after getting hit in the mouth by a skate, Stuart Skinner made 25 saves for his third shutout of the postseason and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Dallas Stars 3-0 in Game 2 on Friday night to even the Western Conference final.

Brown put the Oilers up 3-0 with 4:37 left in the second period, just 1:13 after defenseman Brett Kulak’s first goal in 36 games since Feb. 27. It was early in the second period when officials stopped play with Brown bleeding after taking the toe of Mikael Granlund’s skate when the Stars forward fell down by him near the boards.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a power-play goal for the Oilers, who go home for Game 3 on Sunday after avoiding an 0-2 start on the road for the second time this postseason.

Skinner has four career playoff shutouts. He closed out the second round with consecutive shutouts against Vegas before giving up five goals on 27 shots in the 6-3 loss to opened the series against the Stars.

“For me, it was just rinse, repeat, just keep on going. You can let in five and still give it your all,” Skinner said. “That’s kind of what our whole mindset was as a team. I thought we played well (in Game 1). Sometimes the score doesn’t tell you the whole picture and we just went back out there and played the same way.”

Dallas’ Jake Oettinger stopped 22 shots.

Stars forward Roope Hintz left the ice without putting any weight on his left leg after Edmonton defender Darnell Nurse slashed him on top of his left skate early in the third. Hintz went down to the ice in front of the Edmonton net, and immediately reached toward his foot. Nurse was given a minor penalty for slashing after officials reviewed for a potential major penalty.

Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said he had no update on the injury to Hintz, but certainly questioned the decision by officials.

“Does anyone in this room think if Connor McDavid gets carried off the ice like that it’s not a five-minute major?,” DeBoer responded when asked about the play.

Nugent-Hopkins, who also had the primary assist on Brown’s goal, put the Oilers ahead to stay 5:51 into the game when had a tip-in Evan Bouchard’s shot from above the right circle that was wobbling toward the net after going off the stick of Hintz. Edmonton had the man advantage after a boarding penalty against Granlund.

It was the second game in a row that Nugent-Hopkins had a power-play goal. He had two in a Game 4 win last year when the Oilers went on to beat Dallas in six games in the West final.

Leon Draisaitl had the secondary assist on that goal, and Connor McDavid had a helper on the Kulak’s goal. That pushed Draisaitl and McDavid, 100-point scorers during the regular season, to 20 points in these playoffs — matching Dallas; Mikko Rantanen for the NHL high.

It is the fourth 20-point postseason in a row for McDavid, matching the longest stretch in NHL history with Sergei Fedorov (1995-1998), Bryan Trottier (1980-1983) and Mike Bossy (1980-1983). Draisaitl hit the 20-point mark for the second year in a row.

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