Dallas pullled away in the third period for a 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
It might not have been a win in the Western Conference Final, but the Dallas Stars got a small taste of revenge against the Edmonton Oilers Saturday afternoon with a 4-1 win.
It was t he first match-up against the Edmonton Oilers since Dallas lost in Game 6 in Edmonton last season. The Oilers would go on to lose to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final, but all of that was reset once the new season started. That being said, there is still a lot of bitterness left from that series for both players and fans alike.
Edmonton couldn't quite recapture their magic early on, losing their first three games of the season, but they rattled off two wins in a row before coming into Dallas. Connor McDavid, who scored 132 points last season and is widely regarded as the best player in hockey, did not tally his first goal until their previous game in Nashville.
Meanwhile, the Stars are on a bit of a different trajectory in the early going and currently boast a record of 5-1-0 following their win over Edmonton, including a perfect 4-0 record at home.
For the first 39 minutes of the game, Edmonton dominated and the Stars looked extremely sluggish. Dallas struggled with everything, only getting two shots on net in the entire first period.
"We couldn't make a 10-foot pass, so it wasn't an execution thing," said Stars forward Matt Duchene.
All around, their game was really sloppy, but fresh off of signing a new contract, Stars goalie Jake Oettinger was locked in, keeping the game scoreless. The Stars defense was effective at blocking shots, and those coming into Oettinger were mainly low danger.
With the score still 0-0, the Stars finally caught a break near the end of the second period with their first power-play of the game. However, going into the game against the Oilers, the power-play was only 1 for 17, so it was not a guarantee that it would prove to be much of an advantage.
With only 28 seconds left before intermission, Matt Duchene wasted no time, taking a pass off the opening face-off of the power play and ripping a shot past Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner. Suddenly, Dallas had a lead to protect in the third period.
The Stars were finally able to play with confidence for the third after finding some momentum thanks to Duchene's goal. The first half of the third period was uneventful on the score sheet, but both teams were creating chances. Suddenly for Dallas, lightning struck twice and Duchene beat Skinner again after getting a beauty of a pass from Mason Marchment while crashing the net, making it 2-0. About a minute later, Roope Hintz got a perfect backhand pass from Logan Stankoven below the goal line and blew the game wide open at 3-0.
The Oilers pulled their goalie with about two and a half minutes left, and Leon Draisaitl cashed in with a goal that ruined Oettinger's shutout and gave them a small sliver of life. That bit of life was quickly extinguished by Jason Robertson, who scored an empty net goal to make it 4-1.
Three takeaways:
- Oettinger received the first star of the game and deservedly so. He stopped 31 of 32 shots he faced and came very close to getting his second home shut-out of the year. The 25 year-old netminder has been lights out to start the season. In his four starts, he has allowed five goals and has a save percentage of .953%. He signed a massive eight-year, $66 million dollar contract ahead of the game against the Washington Capitals.
- The power-play drought was snapped. The Stars had only scored one power-play goal thus far this season before the game against Edmonton and were on a 0-16 slump. It was also the first power play goal Dallas had scored against Edmonton since the regular season last year, as they were unable to score one for the entire six game series in the Western Conference Final. The Oilers currently sit 32nd in the NHL for the penalty kill, so this was the chance the Stars need to get their power-play going. Sometimes it just takes one goal to open the floodgates, so hopefully moving forward they can continue converting with the extra man.
- Even with the injury bug attempting to plague the Stars, they have not wavered. With the depth added from this off-season and the NHL-ready players in the AHL, the Stars have been able to continue winning games without a hitch. Brendan Smith has been able to slot in with Matt Dumba's extended absence and Alexander Petrovic is ready if needed behind him. Matej Blumel made his season debut with Sam Steel unable to give it a go Saturday. With the injuries and moving pieces and because the season is still young, the Stars haven't gotten to their game completely but they are still finding success.
An honorable mention is the penalty kill, which currently sits at 95.2% and is ranked first in the NHL. They have only allowed one goal this season and that was in the first game of the season against the Nashville Predators.
The Stars have a couple days break before a two-game road trip. They will face the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday and then head over to Boston to take on the Bruins on Thursday. Then, Dallas has one game at home against the Chicago Blackhawks before heading to Finland for the Global Series against the Florida Panthers.
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