Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid lamented his team's play in the second period of Monday's Game 3 after the Dallas Stars scored three goals in less than four minutes in the frame.

"Real good start, obviously, and then, I'm not sure where those 10-15 minutes come from, but it's as bad as it's been throughout the playoffs," McDavid said following Edmonton's 5-3 loss to trail 2-1 in the Western Conference Final series.

The Oilers carried a 2-0 advantage into the middle frame of Game 3 after outshooting Dallas 10-3 in the opening period. However, the Stars flipped the script in the second, scoring three goals and firing 16 shots on net.

"I thought (Dallas) went up a couple levels, and we went down a few levels," McDavid added. "Obviously, you see the difference."

Despite the second frame proving costly, McDavid wouldn't go as far as to say the Oilers' performance in the period handed the Stars the win.

"Losing sucks," McDavid said. "Series are short. You only get a handful of games. I'm not gonna say we gave it away; it was 40 minutes, and we were able to wrestle it back. But just don't find a way again."

Edmonton held Dallas to three shots again in the third period, but the Stars converted two of their attempts. Jason Robertson scored with just over eight minutes left in regulation to complete his hat trick, and Miro Heiskanen iced the contest with an empty-netter.

"I tried my best in the quickness of the situation," Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner said of the decisive fourth goal. "Robertson was able to make a pretty good play, but something that I gotta save."

Edmonton hosts Game 4 on Wednesday.

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Dallas Stars forward Roope Hintz returned for Game 3 of the Western Conference Final against the Edmonton Oilers.

Hintz featured in the starting lineup alongside Jason Robertson and Tyler Seguin.

He missed the previous four contests due to an upper-body injury sustained in a May 13 meeting with the Colorado Avalanche.

The 27-year-old had two goals and six points in 11 postseason contests entering Monday. He tallied 30 goals and 65 points in 80 regular-season games to rank second on the Stars in goals and fourth in scoring.

After dropping Game 1 in double overtime, Dallas evened the series Saturday with a 3-1 win.

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