The Edmonton Oilers have taken the first lead in the 2024 Western Conference Final, thanks to a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Thursday (May 23) in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series.
Related: McDavid Leads Oilers Past Stars in Game 1 of Western Conference Final
Oilers captain Connor McDavid scored just 32 seconds into double overtime, giving Edmonton its first win in the conference final round since 2006. Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman also scored for the Oilers, who led 2-0 before Dallas rallied with a pair of goals from Tyler Seguin.
Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner made 31 saves, with nine coming in sudden death. Stars netminder Jake Oettinger stopped 35 shots, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Dallas from losing the first game of a playoff series for a seventh straight time.
Here are four takeaways from Edmonton’s victory on Thursday to take a 1-0 series lead.
McDavid’s Moment of Redemption
With just two goals in the first two rounds of the playoffs, McDavid’s scoring output has been well below what’s expected of the five-time Art Ross Trophy recipient who is widely considered the best hockey player on the planet. Going into Thursday’s tilt, McDavid was without a goal in the last six games.
He had a glorious chance to end the game with just over five minutes left in the first overtime, when he gathered a rebound on Oettinger’s doorstep and was looking at an open net before the sprawling Stars goalie somehow got his stick on the puck.
Finally, on the first shift of the second OT, McDavid broke his scoring drought, putting the puck past Oettinger with the redirection of a brilliant feed from Evan Bouchard.
It was the second overtime goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for McDavid, who becomes the seventh skater to have scored multiple overtime postseason goals as a member of the Oilers.
Edmonton’s Penalty Kill Continues to Amaze
The overtime winner was especially sweet for McDavid, considering he spent an agonizing four minutes in the penalty box after being assessed a double minor for high-sticking Stars forward Matt Duchene just 17 seconds into the first overtime.
When he spoke to the media after the game, Edmonton’s captain had one word to describe what it was like watching from the sin bin while his teammates played four-on-five for four minutes: “miserable”.
“I hated every second of it, but the guys did an amazing job, truthfully,” McDavid said. “The penalty kill has just been amazing, and to step in there for four minutes against a good power-play, I can’t give those guys enough credit.”
To call Edmonton’s penalty kill “amazing” is not hyperbole. They were 5/5 on the PK on Thursday and have now killed off 19 consecutive power-play opportunities for the opposition, a streak that spans five games. The Oilers have a penalty kill rate of 92.5% in the playoffs, which ranks first in the NHL.
Skinner Shines Again
Speaking of redemption, Skinner is writing quite a story in his own right. Since he’s returned to action after being benched for two games following a stretch of subpar play, the Oilers have won three straight games, including two while facing elimination.
In those three victories, Skinner has a goals-against average (GAA) of 1.50 and a save percentage (SV%) of .923. That’s a huge improvement from his 3.22 GAA and .877 SV% over Edmonton’s first eight games this postseason.
It was just a week ago that there were questions if Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch would – and should – start Skinner for Game 6 against Vancouver, with Edmonton trailing the series 3-2. In the course of three games, Skinner has won back the confidence of Oil Country and validated Knoblauch’s faith in him.
Oilers Find Ways to Win Despite Blown Leads
Hyman scored at 4:17 of the second period to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead, but Seguin answered with a goal just 1:54 later to cut Edmonton’s lead in half. Seguin’s second goal of the game, at 16:37 of the third period, forced overtime.
This was the fourth time since the start of their second round series against the Vancouver Canucks that the Oilers have held a lead in the third period, only to have their opponent tie the game.
Through Edmonton’s first 13 games this postseason, the Oilers have outscored the opposition 36-21 in the first 40 minutes but have been outscored 13-11 in the third period.
As it is, Edmonton has become accustomed to, perhaps even comfortable, playing in nail-biters. Thursday marked the ninth time in their last 10 outings for the Oilers in which the margin of victory for the winning team was just one goal. Overall, Edmonton is now 6-4 in one-goal games in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, including a 2-1 record in games that have gone to overtime.
The Oilers will now look to go ahead 2-0 in the Western Conference Final when they take on Dallas in Game 2 at American Airlines Center on Saturday (May 25).
