Game 1 of the 2025 Western Conference finals was a reminder to fans of an eternal Stanley Cup playoff truth: Never turn the game off until the final horn.

Trailing 3-1 entering the third period, the Dallas Stars scored five goals en route to a 6-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

Can Edmonton push back in Game 2 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+) on Friday? Or will Dallas bring a 2-0 advantage with them to Alberta for the next two games? Here are matchup notes from ESPN Research, as well as betting intel from ESPN BET:

More: Game 1 recap | Grades

Matchup notes

Edmonton Oilers at Dallas Stars
Game 2 | 8 p.m. ET | ESPN/ESPN+

After a Game 1 win for the Stars, Dallas is now a -190 favorite to win the series, per ESPN BET, while the Oilers are +160. The Stars’ Stanley Cup odds are now +200, while the Oilers’ are +350. Mikko Rantanen (+300) has jumped ahead of Connor McDavid (+450) atop the Conn Smythe Trophy odds leaderboard.

Teams to win Game 1 of a best-of-seven series have gone on to win those series 68% of the time in Stanley Cup playoff history. In 2025, those teams have won nine of 12 series (75%).

The Stars scored three power-play goals 5:58 into the third period of Game 1, becoming the second team since 1934 (when goals by type were officially tracked) with three power-play goals in the opening six minutes of a playoff period; along with the New York Rangers in Game 1 of the 2014 conference finals (4:36).

Dallas’ five total goals in the third period of Game 1 are the most in the third period of a game in Stars/North Stars franchise history.

Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen now has 13 career multipoint games in the playoffs, tied with Sergei Zubov for the most by a defensemen in franchise history.

Rantanen has 20 points this postseason. It is his third career postseason with 20 points, making him one of six active players to reach the 20-point mark in three or more consecutive postseasons. The list also includes Sidney Crosby (four times), Nikita Kucherov (four), Patrick Kane (three), Evgeni Malkin (three) and McDavid (three).

Leon Draisaitl and McDavid were both factors on the same playoff goal for the 69th time in their postseason careers, which is the fourth most by any pair of teammates in NHL history, behind Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri (132), Glenn Anderson and Mark Messier (86), as well as Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier (85).

Stuart Skinner‘s shutout streak ended at 142:42 as the fourth-longest shutout sequence in the playoffs in Oilers franchise history. He saved 55 straight shots before allowing Tyler Seguin‘s first goal of the game.

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Scoring leaders

GP: 14 | G: 9 | A: 11

GP: 12 | G: 6 | A: 13