The first game of the series has gone to the Edmonton Oilers and this game was absolutely huge. The Oilers went into this game hearing about how they weren’t deep enough and goaltending was a big question mark, but they turned the tables and took a huge road win. They showed tonight that they can win against the Dallas Stars, and if they can win one then they can win four. That belief goes a long way in the locker room and what was just a belief before last night has turned into a reality.
The first star of the night
In reality, he wasn’t given any stars of the game, but one guy on the Oilers who proved all the critics wrong was Stuart Skinner, who didn’t have a great first two rounds, posting a .881 Sv% and a 2.87 GAA. He even surrendered the net to Calvin Pickard for two games against the Vancouver Canucks.
Fast forward to last night and you really couldn’t fault him for anything. The first goal was a bad mistake by Brett Kulak, giving up the puck not ten feet from his own net; and maybe you’d like to see Skinner stay with Jamie Benn better but the whole situation shouldn’t have happened at all. The second goal was just an unfortunate accident, all too common in hockey, goalies usually being the ones to pay the price, but realistically there’s no way he can save that. Throughout the game and especially in overtime Skinner was standing on his head and holding strong during the four-minute penalty kill at the start of the first overtime.
The goals of the night
The first goal of the night belongs to the Oilers. Coming hot on the heels of the Dallas power play, Coach Kris Knoblauch sent out the electric line of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Zach Hyman. It looked as if McDavid might weave some magic behind the net, but he was dispossessed of the puck which made its way to Kulak on the point. Kulaks shot was blocked but it landed right on the blade of Draisaitl who wouldn’t have missed a net that wide open when he was 10 months old.
The second goal makes it a two-goal lead for the Oilers! McDavid broke out of the defensive zone and started a two-on-one with Hyman. McDavid passed across to Hyman but the pass was partially intercepted by Chris Tanev. Hyman, with help from his parents immense fortune, willed himself to possession of the puck and slid it through the legs of Jake Oettinger. This was a goal scored exactly as expected for Hyman, being within five feet from the net, but was certainly not a tap in gift from McDavid. This was a beautiful goal because of the work it took to score it.
The third goal of the night belonged to the Stars. This was a tough one to watch as Kulak, being pressured by Benn and Tyler Seguin, fanned on the pass and gave it away to Benn who dangled briefly before passing behind the outstretched leg of Skinner. It looked as if Kulak might be able to hold the puck out on the line but Seguin ended up slamming it home.
The only goal of the third period was the one that tied the game for the Stars with three minutes to go. This was another unfortunate situation for the Oilers as Jason Robertson fired the puck on net and it deflected in front straight to Seguin who had a wide open net to shoot at.
The game winning goal belonged to the fearless leader of the Oilers, Connor McDavid. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins dumped the puck into the offensive zone and the Oilers forechecked effectively with Evan Bouchard pinching perfectly to pick up the puck at the hash marks. He threw the puck over to McDavid in front of the net and he redirected it over the left arm of Oettinger, redeeming himself for his four-minute penalty and restoring his status as the saviour.
How the Oilers can continue to win
All told, this was a great game for the Oilers. The game started a little slow and tentative, and the Oilers looked a little skittish, but by the second half of the first they settled in nicely. The game opened up well with decent chances on both sides. That being said Edmonton seemed to have a slight advantage. Dallas was somewhat stagnant in the face of Edmonton’s speed.
It has been said by many, myself included, that Edmonton is not deep enough to beat the Stars, however there was a shift where a mixed line of Warren Foegele, Ryan McLeod, and Connor Brown hemmed in the Stars second line of Mason Marchment, Matt Duchene, and Joe Pavelski for the entirety of the shift. If Edmonton is going to win this series, that will need to happen every single night.
Unfortunately the bottom six didn’t wind up on the scoreboard again last night. It is probably time to resign ourselves to the fact that they are never going to score a goal every night, but tonight showed that so long as they can hold their own, the big boys are enough to secure the win.
The rest of the game continued much the same as the first period, being generally even throughout. It appeared as though the Oilers would sneak away with the 2–1 victory, but Seguin was able to tie it late in the third and honestly, now that I know the Oilers get the win, I’m glad we got to see that overtime.
This was one of the more exciting overtime periods I’ve watched and by far the most invigorating of the playoffs so far. The fourth period of the game was filled with end-to-end action and incredible saves. When McDavid took a four-minute high sticking penalty three seconds into the period, I nearly turned the game off and went to bed to cry. The Oilers had different ideas though as they killed off the penalty, escaping in part thanks to the two posts that Dallas hit early in the power play.
Afterwards it would be hard to say who had the upper hand. Skinner made a plethora of nice saves throughout the period and Oettinger, with help from Tanev, made a stick save on McDavid that, had they not won the game, he would be seeing in his nightmares thirty years after he had passed.
Before Game 7 against the Cancouver Canucks, Pat Mcaffee was interviewing P.K. Subban and asked him something along the lines of “will McDavid’s legacy be incomplete if he doesn’t lead the Oilers to a win against the Canucks?” It’s a question that I don’t like as the nature of hockey is far more team-based than any other sport. When is the last time you saw one NHL player execute a Connor McDavid style rush many times over in a single game to score most or all goals in their teams win? It just doesn’t happen. For a variety of reasons, a hockey player can’t take control of a game in the same way that a basketball player can. The truth is that the media always wants a hero and even if there isn’t one then they will often heavily exaggerate a players achievements in order to create one. They will not have to do that tonight, as McDavid’s performance should satisfy Pat Mcaffee and the rest of the media.
The importance of this win to the Oilers really can’t be overstated. The perfect penalty killing, excellent goaltending, and winning in double overtime are incredibly uplifting for a team while being equally spirit-crushing to the Stars. It changes the narrative of this series from the Oilers being heavy underdogs to the two teams being at least equal. The game should have been over during the four-minute power play to start overtime but the Oilers were able to find a way, saving the game and McDavid’s sanity all in one.
Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire
