Oilers Hold off Stars to Reach Stanley Cup Finals
The Edmonton Oilers are headed to the Stanley Cup Finals. It will be their first Stanley Cup Finals appearance since 2006. On Sunday night, they defeated the Dallas Stars by a final score of 2-1 in a hotly contested Game Six in Edmonton. Here is how game six went down.
The Oilers knew a good start was essential in order to keep the home crowd engaged early on. Who else would you rather look toward to get your team going than the great Connor McDavid? The short answer is nobody. McDavid took a pass from Leon Draisaitl and pulled off a highlight reel goal, swerving between Stars’ defenders for a beautiful power-play goal to put the Oilers up 1-0 early in the first period. Edmonton took advantage of their other power play opportunity in the first period as Zach Hyman scored his 14th goal of the playoffs off assists from McDavid and Evan Bouchard. Hyman’s goal gave the Oilers a 2-0 advantage with just under five minutes to go in the first period. The Stars also had two power-play chances in the period, and while they got off plenty of shots, they were unable to beat Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner. Dallas would end the first period with a 12-3 advantage in shots on goal but was down 2-0 on the scoreboard.
The second period was the most evenly played frame of the game. There were no penalties for either side, and shots on goal were relatively close at 9-5 in favor of Dallas. The five shots that Edmonton was able to muster up would be the most they would get in any period. The Stars continued to dominate in time of possession, offensive zone time, hits, and shots, but they still could not score on Skinner. The score would remain 2-0 in favor of Edmonton going into the third period.
The third period was more of the same for Dallas, who was clearly the better team throughout the whole game. The Oilers only had two shots on goal in the entire third period, and the Stars controlled most of the offensive zone time. The Stars also had the only power-play chance of the period with 16 minutes to go, but the fantastic Oilers’ penalty kill pulled through again, denying the Stars a crucial first goal. Finally, just over the halfway point of the period, the Stars were able to cut the lead in half as Tyler Seguin passed the puck behind Skinner to Mason Marchment in the slot for a wide-open goal. This left the Stars with nine minutes to score the equalizer, and they did everything in their power to do just that, but the Oilers were able to hold on for dear life. Dallas forward Jason Robertson almost had as many shots on goal as the entire Oilers team. The Stars ended with 35 shots on goal, but only one of those was able to find the back of the net. Behind the phenomenal play of Stuart Skinner, the Oilers were able to fend off a relentless flurry of Dallas scoring opportunities, and just like that, the Edmonton Oilers are going to the Stanley Cup Finals with a 2-1 victory in game six. The Oilers' 10 shots on goal is the fewest shots on goal in a playoff win since 1990. As for the Stars, this defeat marks back-to-back losses in the Western Conference Finals, as they lost to the eventual champion Las Vegas Golden Knights last year. The Stanley Cup Finals will begin on Saturday night in Florida as the Oilers and Panthers will fight for the right to raise the Stanley Cup.
