Stars beat Oilers 3-1 to even up Western Conference final 1-1

The Dallas Stars evened up the NHL’s Western Conference final Saturday night after beating the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 in the second game of the series.

Kris Knoblauch would have happily taken a split earlier in the week.

After his Edmonton Oilers saw an opportunity to truly grab hold of the Western Conference final — especially in an opening 20 minutes heavily tilted in their favour — the team’s head coach departed American Airlines Center with a sour feeling.

Mason Marchment scored the winner early in the third period Saturday as the Dallas Stars beat the Oilers 3-1 to even a series with razor-thin margins 1-1.

“It would’ve been nice to come out of here 2-0,” said Knoblauch, whose group picked a 3-2 double overtime victory Thursday. “Dallas has a lot to say about that.”

Jamie Benn, with a goal and an assist, and Esa Lindell, into an empty net, provided the rest of the offence for the Stars.

Jake Oettinger made 28 saves — including 15 in the opening 20 minutes — for Dallas, which was minus No. 1 centre Roope Hintz (lower-body injury) for a fourth straight game. Wyatt Johnston had two assists.

“I just don’t think we were good enough in the first,” said Marchment, whose team blocked 22 shots. “Jakey stood on his head and allowed us to get our feet wet.

“After that we took over and started playing our game.”