The Edmonton Oilers are one win away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Final after defeating the Dallas Stars by a score of 3-1 in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final at American Airlines Center on Friday (May 31). Edmonton now leads the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs best-of-seven series 3-2.
Related: Oilers Outclass Stars in Game 5 to Take 3-2 Series Lead
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice, and Philip Broberg also tallied for the Oilers, who built up a 3-0 lead before Dallas got a late goal from Wyatt Johnston with less than six minutes remaining. Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner made 19 saves to improve to 6-2 on the road this postseason, while Dallas netminder Jake Oettinger stopped 23 of 26 shots he faced.
Oilers Get Contributions From the Old and New
The longest-tenured Oiler is 31-year-old Nugent-Hopkins, who is in his fourteenth year with the team that selected him first overall in the 2010 NHL Draft. The Oiler with the least NHL experience in Edmonton’s lineup on Friday is 22-year-old Broberg, who was playing just his 12th career playoff game.
However, these two skaters, separated by nearly a decade in age and more than 800 games of NHL regular season experience, were Edmonton’s heroes on Friday, as the Oilers continue to get contributions from all over their lineup.
Nugent-Hopkins scored his goals on the power play at 14:09 of the first period and 1:06 of the middle fame. He has four power play goals and two game-winning goals this postseason, tied for fourth in the NHL in both categories.
At 5:09 of Period 2, Broberg’s point blast gave the Swedish blueliner his first-ever Stanley Cup Playoffs goal. It was also his first goal for the Oilers in any game, pre-season, regular season, or postseason, since April 8, 2023.
Broberg is already the fifth blueliner to score this postseason for the Oilers, who lead the 2024 NHL Playoffs with 14 goals by defensemen. That’s a testament to Edmonton’s depth scoring, as the Oilers have gone on their deepest postseason run of the Connor McDavid era even though their captain has only four goals in 17 playoff games this spring.
Special Teams Are Spectacular for Oilers
Special teams were the exact difference in Friday’s game at American Airlines Center, with Edmonton outscoring Dallas by two goals in power play situations.
Edmonton came into Game 5 without a power play goal in the series and has gone just one-for-16 with the man advantage over the previous seven games. Friday’s performance was reminiscent of earlier in the playoffs, when the Oilers scored at least one power play goal in their first eight games of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, going 14-for-30 with the man advantage over that stretch. For the entire postseason, Edmonton’s power play now has a success rate of 34.7%, the best among the remaining teams.
But that’s nothing compared to the performance of Edmonton’s penalty kill unit, which went two-for-two on Friday. The Oilers have now gone nine consecutive games without allowing a power play goal, a franchise playoff record tied for the third-longest streak by any team during a single NHL postseason since 1941.
During the 2024 NHL Playoffs, Edmonton has killed off 43 of 46 penalties for an incredible success rate of 93.5%. The Oilers have helped their cause by staying out of the box, as it can be overlooked that Edmonton’s opponents are averaging just 2.71 power plays per game this postseason.
The Oilers now have a plus-15 goal differential (18 to 3) on special teams in the playoffs, while they are plus-two (39 to 37) at five-on-five.
Skinner Stands Tall
It was only two weeks ago, going into Game 6 of the second round against the Vancouver Canucks on May 18, that there were questions about whether Skinner would even get the start with his team facing a must-win scenario, trailing the series 3-2.
After a stretch of subpar play, Skinner had sat out Games 4 and 5 against the Canucks, with Calvin Pickard taking his spot between the pipes, and it wasn’t until hours before Game 6 that Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch declared Skinner that night’s starter.
In Edmonton’s seven games since Skinner has gone 5-2 with a goals-against-average (GAA) of 1.92 and a save percentage (SV%) of .908. Those numbers are significant improvements from his first eight outings of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, in which he was 5-3 with a 3.22 GAA and .877 SV%.
Credit is also owed to Edmonton’s defense, as the Oilers have significantly reduced the number of scoring opportunities for the opposition. In Skinner’s first eight appearances, he faced an average of 26.2 shots per 60 minutes. In the last seven games, the six-foot-four goalie faces just 20.9 shots per 60 minutes.
Oilers Look to Buck NHL Trend
Game 6 takes place Sunday (June 2) at Rogers Place, where Edmonton can advance to its first Stanley Cup Final in 18 years. The Oilers haven’t clinched the conference championship on home ice since 1988.
The Oilers are 5-3 at Rogers Place this postseason, making them one of only four teams in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a winning record at home. Remarkably, home teams have a winning percentage of just .443 (from a 35-44 record) this postseason.
In the McDavid era, the Oilers are 6-1 overall and 2-0 at home when they can close out their opponents. Edmonton has five consecutive wins in a clinching scenario, including its victories over the Los Angeles Kings and Canucks earlier this postseason.
The puck drops at Rogers Place on Sunday just after 6 p.m. local time, and fans in Oil Country hope to celebrate before 9 p.m.
