Has there been a more dominant game from the
Edmonton Oilers this postseason?
On Sunday afternoon, the Oilers thumped the Stars 6-1 after dominating the third period to take a 2-1 series lead. Let’s take a look at what happened in this game!
The Oilers opened the scoring with about six minutes left in the first period, as
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins found the trailing
Evan Bouchard. Edmonton’s best defenceman fired it into the back of the net with his patented Bouchbomb for his sixth of the postseason.
Just 36 seconds later, the Oilers were on the board once again. After some chaos in the Oilers’ zone, they broke out on a three-on-one with
Connor McDavid carrying the puck. He passed it to Nugent-Hopkins, before getting it back and ripping it top shelf for the 2-0 lead.
With under five minutes left in the second period, the Stars scored their first goal since Game 1, as Jason Robertson deflected Lian Bischsel’s shot into to back of the net.
Thankfully, the Oilers restored their two-goal lead with just 19 seconds left in the second, as McDavid beat Jake Oettinger blocker side for his second of the game after a zone keep-in by Bouchard.
About three and a half minutes into the third period, the Oilers added another goal. Somehow, the puck stayed out of their net, and Zach Hyman was found all alone for a breakaway. He made no mistake in scoring his fourth of the postseason.
The game was put away with just under eight minutes left in the game, as Evander Kane and Hyman broke in on a two-on-one, with Kane passing it across to Hyman, who deflected it past Oettinger.
To rub salt in the wound, to add insult to injury, the Oilers added a sixth goal courtesy of former Star, John Klingberg. Thomas Harley took an undisciplined penalty after a whistle, leading to an Oilers power play and a point shot from Klingberg, beating Oettinger with 140 seconds left in the game.
Takeaways…
Although the Oilers won this game, they can’t get complacent with the 2-1 series lead. It was just last season when the Stars had a 2-1 lead after a 5-3 victory in Game 3. The Oilers proceeded to win the next three games en route to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The health of the Oilers is a bit worrisome after Game 3. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins went hard into the boards and went down the tunnel twice, but he played in the third period. Connor Brown received a hit to the head from former Oilers Alex Petrovic, with no call being made,
as he would leave the game. The Stars scored on that same shift. Moreover, Trent Frederic crashed into post and was slow to get up.
Two of those plays involved Stars’ defender Lian Bicshel. His leg caught Nugent-Hopkins, tripping him up and sending him crashing into the boards. Bichsel also pushed Frederic into the net. Neither play was dirty, but Petrovic’s hit was, as the puck was nowhere near Brown, and first contact was to the head. The Department of Player Safety has to look at this.
Overall, it wasn’t a great game for the officials. On top of missing the hit to the head, Brett Kulak flipped it over the glass the shift before the Oilers’ first goal – no call. Before the Oilers’ second goal, Kulak had a Stars’ stick in his skate – no call. At the end of the first period, Kasperi Kapanen was called for a high stick despite it being Rantanen’s stick that hit him in the face.
That call on Kapanen set up a dominant period for the Stars, it was just the time in a period where the Stars were the better team in the three games. If not for one player, that period could’ve gotten out of hand for the Oilers.
Stuart Skinner was undoubtedly the best Oilers player on Sunday afternoon, stopping 36 of 37 shots for a .973 save percentage. The Stars fired 22 shots on Skinner in the second period, with the netminder saving all but one of them to maintain the Oilers’ lead. This was the first time this postseason the Oilers have won when Skinner has allowed a goal.
Last postseason, Hyman scored 16 goals, the most total goals for a player in a postseason since Joe Sakic scored 18 in the 1996 postseason. Coming into this game, Hyman had just three goals, but scored the Oilers’ fourth and fifth goals, both in the third period. Connor McDavid also had a two-goal game, meaning the Oilers now have seven different players with five or more goals.
The Oilers also have 18 different players who’ve scored a goal this postseason, as John Klingberg scored a power play goal late in the third period against his former team. At this point, I have no idea who the Oilers will take out of the lineup when Mattias Ekholm is ready to return.
On Tuesday, the Oilers have a chance to go up 3-1 in the series and take a stranglehold on the series. Game 4 starts at 6:00 PM MT two days from now.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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