The Edmonton Oilers have the upper hand in the Western Conference finals after Sunday’s 6-1 Game 3 victory over the visiting Dallas Stars, but that is not the biggest reason they feel confident going forward.
To a man, the Oilers know they have not delivered peak performances in their last couple of outings — yet claimed them both to seize a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“We had a bit of a dip and they had a push, especially in the second,” said Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Zach Hyman scored twice in a three-point game while Connor McDavid netted a pair of goals, including a crucial tally late in the second period to quash Dallas’s comeback hopes.
Evan Bouchard collected one goal and one assist, John Klingberg scored once and Nugent-Hopkins had three assists. To cap it off, goaltender Stuart Skinner made 33 saves in a standout performance.
Game 4 of the series will be Tuesday in Edmonton.
The Oilers’ offensive outburst was welcome, especially with McDavid lighting the lamp twice. He had scored only three goals in 13 postseason games prior to puck drop despite leading the league in shots on goal.
“I haven’t scored too many goals over the course of the playoffs,” McDavid told Sportsnet. “I’m trying to do my part offensively as always. You’re not going to score if you don’t shoot it, so it’s nice to see a couple go in.”
Jason Robertson replied for the Stars, who were without top-line center Roope Hintz after he was slashed in the foot in Game 2. Hintz briefly took part in the pregame skate.
Goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 18 shots in a game his club held the edge in play, but the Stars were done in by a pair of first-period goals 36 seconds apart and McDavid’s dagger-in-the-heart tally just before the second intermission.
“Twenty-two shots in the second period and we end up tying the period,” said Stars forward Mikko Rantanen. “Skinner was the difference-maker. He was really good, and made key saves.”
Bouchard’s point-shot rocket opened the scoring at 14:02. McDavid made it 2-0 right after on an odd-man rush.
Dallas, which has been outscored 9-0 in first periods on the road, was much better in the second period and made it a one-goal game at 15:35 when Robertson netted his first of the playoffs that ended his team’s road scoring drought at 178 minutes and 57 seconds.
However, McDavid buried a shot with 18.8 seconds left in the period to restore a 3-1 lead.
“The third goal was a back-breaker at the end of the second, but I loved our game to that point,” said Dallas coach Pete DeBoer. “There’s building blocks for us to start winning some of these games. We just gotta keep building our game.”
Hyman scored twice in the final frame and Klingberg added a late power-play goal to round out the scoring.
Edmonton forward Connor Brown left the game in the second period after being on the receiving end of a high hit from Alexander Petrovic.
–Field Level Media
