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Oilers bounce Stars, clinch finals rematch vs. Panthers

Corey Perry of the Edmonton Oilers celebrates with teammate Connor McDavid after scoring.  (Getty Images/AFP)
Corey Perry of the Edmonton Oilers celebrates with teammate Connor McDavid after scoring. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Updated 30 May 2025

Oilers bounce Stars, clinch finals rematch vs. Panthers

Oilers bounce Stars, clinch finals rematch vs. Panthers
  • The Oilers now get another rematch, against defending Stanley Cup champion Florida after a seven-game series last June

The Edmonton Oilers get their shot at revenge in the Stanley Cup Final after claiming a 6-3 road victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday to close out the Western Conference finals.
Connor McDavid collected one goal and one assist as the Oilers dispatched the Stars in five games in the best-of-seven series and set up a rematch of last year’s finals against the Panthers, won by Florida in seven games.
Game 1 will be Wednesday at Edmonton.
Corey Perry, Mattias Janmark, Jeff Skinner, Evander Kane and Kasperi Kapanen also scored for the Oilers, who have won 12 of their last 14 playoff games and eliminated the Stars in the conference finals for the second consecutive year.
Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner made 14 saves.
Jason Robertson scored twice and Roope Hintz tallied once for Dallas, which has lost out in the Stanley Cup chase in the third round three straight years. Wyatt Johnston and Thomas Harley each recorded two assists.
Starting Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger was pulled after surrendering goals on the first two shots he faced. Casey DeSmith made 17 saves in relief.
Sensing their chance to close out the series, the Oilers staked an early 3-0 lead. Perry opened the scoring at 2:31 when he redirected McDavid’s centering pass for the power-play marker.
On Perry’s goal, McDavid collected his 100th career playoff assist in his 90th game, the second fastest player to hit the century mark for postseason helpers, behind only Wayne Gretzky (70 games).
Janmark doubled the lead at 7:09 by sliding home a breakaway chance. Jeff Skinner — playing his first game since the playoff opener — made it a 3-0 affair by banging home a rebound tally 58 seconds later for his first career playoff goal.
The Stars pushed back but could not draw even. Robertson scored for the third consecutive game when he gained a loose puck in the slot and rang a shot off the post and in at 11:40 of the opening frame.
Hintz made it a one-goal game with a power-play one-timer from the slot at 12:27 of the second period.
However, McDavid restored Edmonton’s two-goal lead two minutes later with a breakaway tally.
Robertson’s second of the game, a five-hole shot off the rush, again brought the Stars within one goal 38 seconds into the third period.
Kane responded at 3:21 of the period when his pass attempt banked off a defender and into the net to make it 5-3. Kapanen’s empty-net goal in the last minute rounded out the scoring.
Dallas failed to record a shot on goal in the final 16:17 of the game.


Battling Barcelona earn 3-3 draw in thriller against Brugge

Battling Barcelona earn 3-3 draw in thriller against Brugge
Updated 59 min 57 sec ago

Battling Barcelona earn 3-3 draw in thriller against Brugge

Battling Barcelona earn 3-3 draw in thriller against Brugge
  • Barcelona found their equalizer in the 77th minute when Yamal lifted a cross into the box and defender Seys headed the ball into his own net when trying to clear

BRUGES, Belgium: Barcelona fought back three times to snatch a 3-3 draw at Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday, equalising for the final time late in the game with an own goal from 20-year-old Belgium defender Joaquin Seys.
Barcelona are now 11th in the standings on seven points from four matches while Club Brugge sit 22nd on four points, with both teams still in the hunt for qualification.
In a thriller at Brugge’s Jan Breydel Stadium, the home side opened the scoring through Nicolo Tresoldi in the sixth minute, after a quick counter by Carlos Forbs that exposed the vulnerability of Barcelona’s high defense.
The 21-year-old jet-heeled Portuguese forward controlled a long ball in his stride to beat the offside trap up the right channel before bursting into the box and crossing low for Tresoldi to score with a tidy finish past the goalkeeper.
Barcelona hit right back with Ferran Torres from close range two minutes later but Brugge regained the lead in the 17th minute with Forbs scoring after another quick counter.
In an end-to-end encounter with both sides creating several chances, Jules Kounde struck the crossbar in the 27th minute as Barcelona tried to find the equalizer, while Ferran Torres missed from close range right before the break.

FRANTIC FINALE
Barcelona keeper Wojciech Szczesny made a stunning save early in the second half when Seys entered the penalty box in a counter-attack and struck a bullet shot from close range that the veteran Polish keeper blocked away brilliantly.
Barca defender Eric Garcia almost scored in the 59th minute with a thunderous strike from long range that exploded off the crossbar but it was teenager Lamine Yamal who scored a brilliant individual goal one minute later to level the match again. However, it took Club Brugge only two minutes to get back the lead, with Forbs scoring from another counter-attack, beating Barcelona’s high defense again for the umpteenth time before chipping a tidy finish round Szczesny into the net.
Barcelona found their equalizer in the 77th minute when Yamal lifted a cross into the box and defender Seys headed the ball into his own net when trying to clear.
There was more drama as Brugge thought they had scored the winner in added time through Romeo Vermant, thanks to what looked to have been a massive blunder by Szczesny. But the VAR video review ruled out the goal as the forward fouled the keeper in his effort to recover the ball, helping Barca rescue a point.
“They have created a lot of danger on the counter-attack and we should have done much better everywhere,” a visibly frustrated Ferran Torres told Movistar Plus.
“It seemed like that with two passes they were already in our box. We have to find ways to improve. The team reacted well, we had a lot of chances. But when you’re behind... It’s tough.”