IT IS HAPPENING, FOLKS!
The Edmonton Oilers have defeated the Dallas Stars in six games to advance to the 2024 Stanley Cup Final.
This will be the first Stanley Cup Final appearance for the Oilers since 2006 as they look to win the first Stanley Cup for the franchise since 1990 and first for a Canadian team since 1993.
Series rundown
Game 1
Edmonton Oilers 3 – Dallas Stars 2 (2OT), Edmonton leads series 1–0
Heading into Dallas, the Oilers were not even close to being the favourites as the roster depth of the Stars far outweighed what Edmonton possessed. But two quick goals early in the first period showed that the Oilers came to play. Although Dallas fought back and tied it late, a common trend for the Oilers opponents these playoffs, the Oilers came in clutch in overtime. Connor McDavid, after almost scoring late in the first overtime period, got the game winner just 32 seconds into second overtime.
Game 2
Dallas Stars 3 – Edmonton Oilers 1, series tied 1–1
The Stars responded in a strong way with an early goal in Game 2. And even though Edmonton bounced back with a quick tying goal, the rest of the game was Dallas’. They scored the only two other goals in the game and outshot the Oilers 21–13 in the final two periods. Dallas kept themselves out of a huge hole by splitting the opening homestand.
Game 3
Dallas Stars 5 – Edmonton Oilers 3, Dallas leads 2–1
Edmonton tried to respond in kind to the Stars after their Game 2 loss. And things started well with an early 2–0 lead. But the wheels fell off and Jason Robertson led the comeback with a hat trick as the Stars took over the game in the second period, fueled by the return of Roope Hintz, a key part of Dallas’ forward group. Even though Edmonton dominated two periods of the game, including outshooting the Stars 13–3 in the third, they learned an important lesson on playing a full 60 minutes in this tough loss.
Game 4
Edmonton Oilers 5 – Dallas Stars 2, series tied 2–2
Another tough mid-series loss, another batch of big moves made by Head Coach Kris Knoblauch. Despite Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci taking a ton of flack for their play defensively, game four featured the return of Corey Perry, Ryan McLeod, and Philip Broberg to the Oilers lineup in place of Sam Carrick, Warren Foegele, and Vincent Desharnais. Dallas took a very early 2–0 lead, but Perry and McLeod connected to open the scoring for Edmonton en route to five unanswered goals and an Oilers victory to split Edmonton’s homestand, leaving a best of three for a Stanley Cup Finals berth.
Game 5
Edmonton Oilers 3 – Dallas Stars 1, Edmonton leads 3–2
The day he received a ton of praise from his teammates and coach was a big night for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as he scored two power play goals, Edmonton’s first power play goals of the series, to guide the Oilers to a big victory on the road in Game 5. And yet another of Knoblauch’s roster moves paid off as Broberg scored his first career playoff goal to give the Oilers some insurance. Limiting the Stars to just 10 shots in the first two periods (and 20 in the game) showed the team’s shutdown capabilities.
Game 6
Edmonton Oilers 2 – Dallas Stars 1, Edmonton wins series 4–2
Despite being heavily outshot the entire game, a couple of early powerplay goals gave the Oilers the lead through most of the game. But halfway through the third, the Stars finally beat Stuart Skinner and got on the board, cutting the lead in half. With the shot differential ending at 35–10, the Oilers managed to hand on with an incredible performance from Skinner to eliminate the Stars.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
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