McDavid’s Game-Winner in Double Overtime Gives Oilers Game One Victory
At American Airlines Center on Thursday night, the Western Conference Finals between the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars got underway. The Stars and Oilers entered the series having just concluded two intense Semifinals matchups. The Stars took care of the Colorado Avalanche in six games. The Oilers, meanwhile, overcame a 3-2 series deficit to defeat the Canucks in seven games. The Conference Finals matchup between the two squads marks the first time they have faced off in the postseason since the 2003 season. The Oilers and Stars engaged in a back-and-forth game in Game One during which both sides produced several excellent shots. The Oilers, led by captain Connor McDavid, defeated the Stars 3-2 in a taxing Game One requiring two overtime periods to steal home-ice advantage.
In the first period, the Stars would go on the first power play of the series after Oilers’ Evander Kane was called for a roughing penalty nearly seven minutes into the game. However, the Stars would be unable to capitalize and take an early lead as the Oilers’ penalty kill would kill off their 15th straight penalty during the postseason. The first period would conclude with the game remaining scoreless heading into the second period. After the first 20 minutes of play, there had been 23 hits between the two teams, indicating that they were clearly trying to establish a physical tone.
Only 58 seconds into the second period, Brett Kulak's shot in the Stars' zone was blocked by Esa Lindell, causing the puck to bounce out in front of Leon Draisaitl, who shot the puck past an outstretched Jake Oettinger for his ninth goal of the postseason, giving the Oilers the early 1-0 lead in Game One. Three minutes later, at 4:17, the Oilers would extend their lead to 2-0 after Oilers’ goalie Stuart Skinner would initially stop a shot from Lindell and the puck would ricochet off of Skinner and would generate a two-on-one opportunity for Edmonton. After briefly losing control of the puck in front of Oettinger, Zach Hyman would beat Oettinger through his five-hole for his league-leading 12th goal of the playoffs. At 6:11, the Stars would cut the Oilers’ lead in half at 2-1 after Kulak’s attempt to clear the zone would fail after fanning on a pass attempt. This would lead to Stars’ Tyler Seguin gaining control of the puck in the Oilers’ zone and burying the puck into the wide-open net as Skinner was out of position. Despite being outshot 17-16 through the first 40 minutes, the Oilers would head into the third period with their 2-1 lead in tack.
In the third period, both team’s goaltenders would buckle down and do their best to avoid giving up the next goal. With 3:23 remaining in regulation, the Stars would rally to tie the game up at 2-2 after Jason Robertson’s shot from the right circle deflected off of Evgenii Dadonov’s stick and Seguin would be there on the opposite side to wrist-shot the puck into the net for his second goal of the game, which would ultimately send the game to overtime. To begin the overtime period, only 17 seconds in, McDavid would be called for a double minor for high-sticking, sending the Stars to a four-minute power play to possibly win the game. The Stars would get several excellent looks on net as two different shots would ring off the post. However, the Oilers’ top-ranked penalty kill unit would come through in the clutch and would thwart the extended penalty to keep the game tied. The game would go to double overtime as neither team could find the game-winning goal. Only 32 seconds into the second overtime, McDavid would score the game-winning goal after receiving a pass from Evan Bouchard, who was along the boards and McDavid would be in front of the net and beat Oettinger’s right side to give the Oilers a 1-0 series lead heading into Game Two on Saturday night.
