Instant Reaction: Oilers win double overtime thriller in Game 1 against Stars

For the first time since 2006, the Edmonton Oilers have won a Western Conference Final game, as they defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2 in double overtime to take a 1-0 series lead.

Like so many times in this postseason, the Oilers scored the first goal, as a fortuitous bounce off Brett Kulak’s shot landed to Leon Draisaitl, who was able to score from around his office. The process was different, but the result was the same.

Edmonton later jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second period, as Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman had an odd-man rush, with McDavid electing to pass. It looked as if the puck would be intercepted, but Hyman fought for it and eventually slotted it under Jake Oettinger.

For the second straight Oiler game, a fanned puck on a breakout led to the first goal of the game for the opposition, as Kulak fanned, turning the puck over to Jamie Benn. He outwaited Stuart Skinner and got the puck over to Tyler Seguin, who was able to bang it in.

Moving on to the third, it looked like the Oilers would coast to a 2-1 win. However, another lucky bounce off some net-front traffic saw the puck land to Seguin, who tied the game late in the third period.

Immediately to start the first overtime period, McDavid high-sticked Matt Duchene, but the play continued until the next whistle. Afterwards, the refs and linesmen decided to retroactively call a double-minor.

It looked as if the Oilers would walk away with a Game 1 win, but Dallas netminder Jake Oettinger robbed Connor McDavid all alone in front of the net with his stick. Big credit to Chris Tanev who got his stick on it. The Oilers were CuJo’ed.

Early in the second overtime, the Oilers forechecked the Stars, retrieving the puck that eventually found its way in front of the net after a Bouchard pass. The goal scorer was none other than Connor McDavid.

It was a rough game for the refs, as Dallas had five power plays to Edmonton’s one. Is Dallas just an overly clean team, or did the officials want to nullify Edmonton’s lethal power play? The penalty wasn’t even an infraction a player committed, as it was too many men on the ice call. Let’s just say that it’s suspicious.

The bottom two lines had good games, as the Foegele-McLeod-Ryan line and the Janmark-Carrick-Brown line both generated offence and didn’t cost the team defensively. Both lines seemed to find some chemistry.

Leon Draisaitl’s point streak to start the season continued, as he scored the game’s opening goal to give him a 13-game point streak. He elevates his game in the postseason, which is why he’s the second-best player in the league

The Oilers’ penalty kill had another terrific day, killing off all five penalties they faced, including a double minor early in the first overtime period. Their penalty kill has now killed off 36 of 39 power plays.

Stuart Skinner had a great game once again. This was his ninth playoff game of 23, and he had a .900 save percentage. He saved 31 of 33 shots for a .939 save percentage. More of this from Skinner would be great.

Zach Hyman scored his league-leading 12th goal of the postseason, with the next closest player remaining in the playoffs being Leon Draisaitl’s nine goals. He also picked up an assist.

What the heck was that camera angle? Anytime the puck was on the close side along the boards and the fans were standing, it was impossible to see the action on that side. Not much that they can do about it.

Up next: Game 2 is on Saturday at 6:00 PM MT. The Oilers will look to take a stranglehold on the series, as they can win the first two games before even playing on home ice.