Seguin healthy, igniting Stars entering Game 2 of West Final against Oilers

DALLAS -- Tyler Seguin got control of the puck and headed up the ice, the Dallas Stars forward with his two surgically repaired hips pulling away from a pair of Edmonton Oilers defensemen to score a breakaway goal.

"It felt good to beat a guy up the ice with some speed, yeah," Seguin said with a smile. "It always feels good to score. It feels even better to win."

The goal at 15:22 of the first period tied the opener of the Western Conference Final at 1-1 for the Stars, who went on to rally for a 6-3 victory. Game 2 of the best-of-7 series will be at American Airlines Center on Friday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Seguin had three points in Game 1, including his first two goals since April 23, when he scored the overtime winner in a 2-1 win against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 3 of the first round. His second goal, which gave Dallas a 5-3 lead on Wednesday, was part of five unanswered goals in the third period.

It was a great night for the 33-year old, who had surgery on Dec. 5 to repair a femoroacetabular impingement and the labrum in his left hip. He returned on April 16, getting an assist in Dallas' regular-season finale, a 5-1 loss at the Nashville Predators.

"That was great, and you know what, I'm happy for Tyler," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. "I mean hip surgery, missed [most of the season]. That's a ton of work in the gym off the ice and with our trainers to get to a point where he can actually pull away from somebody in that situation this time of the year. Great to see, and lot of work behind the scenes put into that burst he had."

Seguin has eight points (four goals, four assists) in 14 Stanley Cup Playoff games this season and 79 (29 goals, 50 assists) in 147 career postseason games. He ranks seventh in playoff goals (23) in Stars history since the franchise relocated from Minnesota in 1993-94.

Seguin's work to be ready this postseason has been evident.

"We just had three or four days in between the games, and even though there were off days he was in here working," Dallas forward Colin Blackwell said. "When you go through something like that, it's definitely a journey. You're healthy and you're able to play, but he's continually working every single day to set himself up for the best-case scenario to have a game like he had (Wednesday) night.

"He's been huge for us. Even the last goal in Game 6 (against the Winnipeg Jets in the second round), him passing to Thomas (Harley, Stars defenseman who scored in overtime). Even when he was first coming back, his cerebral smarts were there, hockeywise. Now his legs are coming and he seems more comfortable. He's a huge factor with everything that we do."

It wasn't Seguin's first time going through this. He had similar surgery on his right hip Nov. 2, 2020, and missed all but three games of the 2020-21 season. He also had arthroscopic knee surgery during that time he was sidelined.

And yet he's still here. Still competing, still scoring.

"I mean, for him to come back that early and to be that important in not even just this series or that game but the rest of the playoffs, he's been great for us," Stars forward Mason Marchment said. "Every game he's working and doing his best. For him to come back and have a big game like that, that's huge for us, and we're going to need him down the stretch to have a couple of more of those."

Seguin was reminded during the postgame media session that it's been 14 years since he's won the Stanley Cup, which he did with the Boston Bruins in 2011 when he was a 19-year-old rookie. He went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2013, when the Bruins lost in six games to the Chicago Blackhawks, and the 2020 Final with the Stars, who lost in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"At least he has one," said Stars forward Matt Duchene, who is looking to win his first Stanley Cup ring.

Now to get back there again and win it again.

"It's satisfying to win," Seguin said. "Whether it comes back to me or the talk of whatever, we've all got to chip in. It's not going to be [Duchene] and I on the podium maybe next game. Maybe it will be, but there are different guys that step up at different times. That's what makes a team deep and successful.

"We hear all the noise of depth and how good Edmonton's depth was the last few rounds and how good they still are. We've got to do our job, too, and our part, and that's the only way we're going to beat these guys."