The Dallas Stars are headed to the Western Conference Final for the third straight year. The Stars advanced when Thomas Harley’s power-play goal 1:33 into overtime gave them a 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 6 of their second-round series on Saturday night.
The Stars got the game’s lone power play with 14.8 seconds remaining in regulation when Mark Scheifele, playing hours after being notified that his father had died unexpectedly, was called for tripping Sam Steel on a breakaway. Dallas managed little pressure until Tyler Seguin controlled the puck behind the net and found Harley in the slot.
Harley’s 30-foot snap shot through traffic went over the glove of Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, triggering an eruption at American Airlines Center.
Seguin “put it right on my tape,” Harley told Sportsnet.
Before Harley’s goal, the only scoring came in a 6:44 span of the second period. Scheifele, who played after saying that his father would have wanted him to do so, put the Jets ahead 1-0 at 5:28, only to have Steel, a fourth-line forward, tie the game at 11:12 with his first goal since Feb. 28.
The Stars will face the Edmonton Oilers in a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Final, a series won by the Oilers in six games. Dallas will host Game 1 on Wednesday. Edmonton advanced by knocking off the Vegas Golden Knights in five games, including a 1-0 overtime win in Game 5.
The Jets, who won the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL regular-season champion, saw the best season in the franchise’s 25-year history end too soon after their 10th consecutive road loss in the playoffs.
Stars advance to West Final by defeating Jets 2-1 in OT in Game 6
To say the Stars had the better of play in the first period would be an understatement. Though the shots on goal were just 6-4 in Dallas’ favor, the Stars out-attempted the Jets 25-13 – and, according to Natural Stat Trick, had an 18-1 advantage in scoring chances and an 8-0 margin in high-danger opportunities. The Jets had a 26-9 edge in hits, mostly because they spent the period chasing the Stars while Dallas had the puck.
Hellebuyck, who struggled in first periods on the road all spring, stopped Mikko Rantanen from near the right face-off dot 20 seconds into the game. He made two excellent saves in a 10-second span late in the period, denying Lian Bischel from in tight and foiling a backhander by Matt Duchene.
The Jets finally got their offense moving in the second period and took a 1-0 lead on Scheifele’s goal. Oettinger stopped Nikolaj Ehlers’ breakaway bid, but Gabe Vilardi chased down the puck and was high-sticked behind the net by Bischel. During the delayed penalty, Vilardi got the puck to Kyle Connor for a shot that Oettinger stopped but couldn’t control, and Scheifele quickly swept it into the net at 5:28 for a 1-0 lead.
Dallas tied it at 11:12, also on a rebound. Hellebuyck stopped Harley’s rip from the right circle, but the puck caromed into the high slot and Steel fired past the goaltender’s glove for his first goal of the playoffs.
Each goaltender made a game-saving stop in the frantic third period. Hellebuyck got his pad out early in the period to stop Mikael Granlund, who had a hat trick against him in Game 4. Oettinger made what might have been the save of the series a few minutes later when he dove across the crease and got his blocker on a wide-open one-timer by Mason Appleton.
Oettinger made 22 saves to get the better of Hellebuyck, who finished with 18 despite playing by far his best road game of the playoffs. He was 6-1 at home in the postseason but 0-6 away from Canada Life Centre.
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3 takeaways from Dallas Stars series-clinching 2-1 OT win against Winnipeg Jets in Game 6
1. Heartbreak for Scheifele
Scheifele’s personal tragedy was the biggest story before the game. For a few minutes in the second period, it looked like he would
The veteran center got behind Stars defenseman Alex Petrovic to finish off Connor’s rebound and put the Jets ahead. He also led the Jets with nine hits, just three fewer than he’d had in Winnipeg’s first 10 playoff games combined. But all he could do was sit and watch in the penalty box when the Stars ended the Jets season.
“I’m so proud of him,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. “His dad would have been so proud of him.”
Scheifele’s teammates embraced him after the winning goal, and several of the Stars the same during the handshake line after what had to be one of the toughest days of his life.
“It’s tough to put into words what Mark went through today,” Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry said. “Gets a huge goal for us. Plays a heck of a game and ends the way it does. Just emotional. Heavy.”
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2. Stars move on
Dallas hopes the third time is the charm when it comes to winning the conference final and advancing to the Stanley Cup Final, something the Stars haven’t done since 2020.
The Stars lost in six games to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023, losing the first three games and winning the next two before being drubbed 6-0 at home in Game 6. They had a 2-1 series lead against the Oilers last year after winning Game 3 in Edmonton, but lost the next three games.
In all, Edmonton and Dallas have played seven times in the playoffs, with the Stars winning five of those series. The teams met in the postseason six times in a seven-year span from 1997-2003. The Oilers also faced the Minnesota North Stars twice in the playoffs prior to their relocation to Dallas for the 1993-94 season, with each team winning once.
“It’s a different year, different players on each team,” Harley said. “We feel good about the guys we have in that room as we head into the series.”
Dallas lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a six-game Final in 2020, when the entire playoffs were held in Toronto and Edmonton during the coronavirus pandemic. The Stars won their only championship in 1999 by defeating the Buffalo Sabres in six games. They haven’t reached the Final in a “normal” season since 2000, when they lost their bid to repeat as champions to the New Jersey Devils in six games.
3. Stars finally capitalize after missed opportunities
Harley’s series-winner came on the Stars’ 20th shot on goal — but their 80th attempt. That’s because for most of the night, they couldn’t hit the net.
Hellebuyck played his best game of the series, but he never had to face more than seven shots in any period. The Stars had 22 shots blocked and missed the net on an incredible 38 other attempts. They had an 18-5 edge in high-danger scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick — that’s almost as many as they had shots on goal.
The Jets’ goaltender withstood a 46-second flurry late in the first period when the Stars had eight shots — three that were on goal, along with four misses and one that was blocked.
In the end, the Stars just kept shooting until they got the goal that ended the series.
“We just stuck to it,” Harley said after scoring the biggest goal of his career and gave the Stars their third win in as many overtime games this spring. “I’m just happy we got the series win.”
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