When the Edmonton Oilers scored just two minutes in, I knew they were going to win.
There was just something about how Connor McDavid used Zach Hyman as a backboard that made me think, “Oh, it’s going to be one of those games.” Sure enough, the Oilers soon after went onto the power play, and while Dallas was able to kill it off, it didn’t signify a momentum shift — Edmonton kept on racking up the shot counter, and soon McDavid was at it again, scoring a goal for himself again (and his 100th career postseason point to boot) on a shot that the NHL for some reason designated as an “own goal.”
What was particularly frustrating about both of those goals was that neither were Jake Oettinger’s fault — they were both a direct result of one of his teammates getting beaten or edged out by an Oiler right behind him. If Ryan Suter never lets Hyman set up there all alone, or if Tyler Seguin is able to properly poke check the puck away from McDavid (admittedly a tall order), neither of those goals ever happen.
But they did, and the Oilers continued to skate all over the Dallas Stars. The period ended with the shot count 13-3 according to TNT, only for it to be revised to the official 10-3 differential by the time the second period started, but as David Castillo wrote, it wasn’t really about the number of shots — the Stars just looked completely outclassed no matter which way you sliced it.
So yes, the Oilers were for sure going to win. Until they weren’t, because the Stars responded to getting dominated in the first by dominating the Oilers even more in the second. It started with what felt like the world’s longest offensive zone possession (in actuality approximately 100 seconds) in which the Stars, who had already managed two shots on net in their previous possession, added another four to the tally to give them six for the period, double what they had in the first and just one less than Edmonton total.
Of course, shots don’t matter if you don’t score. Which is exactly what Dallas did a couple minutes later, courtesy of the newly returned Roope Hintz and the recently criticized Jason Robertson:
Of course, the Stars were still down one goal, which means they would have to score again to even it up. Which, again, is exactly what they did a couple minutes later (2:30 to be exact), courtesy of, once again, Hintz and Robertson:
Once again, the Stars are able to keep the puck from sliding out of the offensive zone, although this time it’s Robertson who does the deed. He gets the shot off, then heads towards the net as Hintz is able to eventually knock the puck out away from in front of Skinner. Robertson easily corralled it, backhands it top shelf.
Of course, the game was still tied, which means that-okay, this bit has gone on long enough — you know what happened next:
The Captain and Kids (a.k.a. Jamie Benn, Logan Stankoven, and Wyatt Johnston) gave Dallas the lead with a total group effort — Benn outworks Edmonton to get the puck behind the net, then sends it to Stankoven who is able to draw the entirety of the Oilers’ attention (specifically defenseman Vincent Desharnais), at which point the puck find its way over to a now wide open Johnston who sends it sailing into the empty net.
In the course of three and a half minutes, the Stars scored three goals and now held a 3-2 lead. After Game 2, I questioned whether Skinner would have been able to withstand an onslaught similar to what Oettinger had dealt with in the first. Well, it looks like got a definitive answer.
And the Stars just kept. On. Going. 14 unanswered shots on goal until less than eight minutes remaining in the period, when Edmonton finally got a hold of the puck long enough in their offensive zone to send something Oettinger’s way. With the way things were going, Dallas looked like they had overcome adversity and might cruise their way to a win.
…Well, until Suter took an ill-advised delay of game penalty by sending the puck over the glass. Again, the Stars killed the penalty off, but it seemed to breathe life back into the Oilers, who began outshooting Dallas considerably once more. With less than a minute left in the period, a great deflection by Adam Henrique (who was also returning to the lineup tonight) tied things back up for the Oilers.
From that point, I had a feeling that the next goal was going to be the game-winner. And just forty seconds later, a Zach Hyman crosscheck meant that Dallas was going to get that chance as they went on the power pla-wait no sorry, Mason Marchment got called for embellishment. Which, you know, it was Mason Marchment, who officials aren’t exactly a fan of, but I’m not even sure what he would have been embellishing. Even the broadcast booth said it was a bad call, with Wayne Gretzky(!) calling it a horrible one at intermission.
But we’re not hear to complain about the refs — we’re here to evaluate the Stars, who spend most of the 4-on-4 in the third period trying to kill as much time as possible in their own zone, knowing Edmonton had the edge with fewer skaters on the ice. That gave way to the Stars not registering a single shot on goal for the first half of the period, and what looked like a potential Stars win was starting to feel like, just as I feared after the first goal, an inevitable Oilers wi-
Oh never mind, Robertson just completed his hat trick:
I mean wow — what a goal. You just knew Robertson was hoping to get it over to Roope Hintz in front of the net, but Darnell Nurse was able to hit the ice and clog up the passing lane. So instead, he settles for taking it behind the net. Only as he starts to do so, he noticed that Skinner wasn’t actually hugging the post, instead going pressing up the bottom of his skate on it and leaving a noticeable gap. Robertson exploited that, ramming the puck right off of Skinner’s skate and pad and back into net.
It then turned out that at least one of my mid-game predictions came true — that was indeed the game-winner, as the only remaining goal came not on the Stars’ lone power play of the evening (in which they got zero shots on net, frustratingly), but instead an empty netter by Miro Heiskanen to seal the deal. The game was a roller coaster of emotions, or perhaps more accurately, a rubber band, in which momentum seemed to keep snapping back and forth between the two teams. Luckily for the Stars and their fans, the final spring back was in their favor.
• During and after Game 2, Jason Robertson faced a lot of criticism for his lack of goal scoring recently. So I asked Gavin Spittle and Sean Shapiro over on the Spits & Suds podcast what their take on Robertson’s play and lack of scoring was. Shapiro proceeded to talk about how Robertson was the kind of player who often needed the power play to get going, and furthermore that the lack of Hintz in the past few games meant he was viewed as the only “lethal” option on the top unit, and thus wouldn’t get the looks he was accustomed to.
Well, he didn’t need the power play to get going tonight, but it’s unquestioned that Hintz’s return helped him greatly. That’s actually been a different criticism of Robertson in the past: that his success was over-reliant on Hintz, and that if he was supposedly an elite player, he should be able to get it done regardless. But first of all, he still lit up the Vegas Golden Knights and notched 7 assists in six games against the Colorado Avalanche, even as Roope Hintz was a non-factor (or out due to injury) in pretty much all of those games.
Second of all, is it really a bad thing to play much better when you have another elite linemate out there with you, especially when you have great chemistry? There’s something to be said about feeding off of one another’s play and building your confidence, and tonight’s perhaps the best example of it: Hintz’s efforts helped get Robertson to break his goal drought, and then his next two goals were 100% all him. Maybe he needed a jump start, but it was still the Jason Robertson show at the end of the day.
• Whereas it’s hard to blame Stuart Skinner for the Wyatt Johnston goal — as with the Oilers’ first two goals, hard for the goalie to do anything when your defense leaves the guy wide open right in front of you — it’s a bit harder to justify the three Robertson goals. He just got plain beat on a sniper for the first, failed to corral the rebound and then got beaten up top on a backhand, and then played the third one absolutely horribly (no reason that shot should ever be let in).
The Oilers have found a gameplan that works against Dallas, which is to minimize shots against on Skinner while piling on Jake Oettinger. Their issue is that they cannot seem to sustain that for an entire 60 minutes (hmm, sound familiar?), only single periods or short bursts. You have to think that Kris Knoblauch will consider going with Calvin Pickard for Game 4, who’s been better than Skinner in the small, two game (plus some change) sample size against the Vancouver Canucks he has.
Then again, he has a .895 SV% in six career games against Dallas, with two of those being this year in which he allowed eight(!) goals against for a .864. That’s not exactly comforting. Plus there’s a reason why Knoblauch went back to Skinner for Game 6. This is definitely not a rotation or “1A vs 1B” scenario for the Oilers — Skinner is their clear starter, and if you’re having to resort to your backup for Game 4 again… well, that probably doesn’t bode well for you overall.
• Last thing on those Robertson goals, I swear: Jack Han did a fantastic job at breaking down the Stars’ zone entries leading up to all three goals, specifically how they forced Edmonton to abandon the neutral zone, allowing an easy transition from the defensive to offensive zone. Well worth the quick read.
• After complaining about their lack of power plays after Game 2, the Oilers only got two tonight, failing to score on either. That leaves them completely blanked by the Dallas penalty kill in three games this series, as well as scoring on only one in their last 14 opportunities, iirc. Not to pile on, but you have to think at some point, if the Oilers really think they need power plays to get going and win games, maybe they should actually score on the chances they do get?
• I thought that Thomas Harley coughed up the puck one too many times this night, Ryan Suter has had better games, and the #fancystats weren’t particularly kind to Chris Tanev, but overall I felt it was a great effort from the Stars’ defensemen, at least after the first period. The Oilers actually outshot the Stars more in the third period (13-3 vs. 10-3), but it never really felt like the Stars were turtling without a lead or surrendering a lot of high danger chances. The only time I really felt like Oettinger had to make one of those saves was when he used his stick to block a perfectly aimed shot from Connor McDavid that seemed destined to find its way past a gap left open.
And, of course, the Stars’ offensive domination in the second was in part possible due to their efforts in clogging up the blueline and refusing to let Edmonton have anything. There’s something to be said about momentum in-game and feeling like everything/nothing is going your way, and that requires solid play on both sides of the rink. Stick taps to the entire team for turning this game around.