The Dallas Stars got off to their Western Conference final series against Edmonton on the right foot, beating the Oilers 6-3 in Game 1 of the series, but Edmonton stole home-ice advantage in Game 2, blanking Dallas 3-0 Friday to send the series back to Edmonton for Game 3 Sunday afternoon. What’s the key for the Stars to win back home-ice advantage? Let’s look at a few areas below.
Firstly, it’s clear the Stars need to get to Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner early in Game 3. Dallas got five of their six goals in Game 1 in the third period, and the Stars can’t allow Skinner to build confidence by continuing his shutout streak well into Game 3. And Dallas’ power play was a huge factor in Game 1, with the Stars getting three goals with the man advantage to end a power-play drought. Dallas’ power play went 0-for-2 in Game 2, and the Stars need to do a better job of (a) drawing penalties in Game 3, and (b) converting them to offense when they are on the power play.
Meanwhile, Dallas also has to be more consistent with its shot total, as in Game 2, they managed only five shots in the second period, when the Oilers got two of their three goals, and the Stars managed 25 shots in total in Game 2. Contrast that performance with Dallas’ Game 1 shot total, part of which saw the Stars outshoot the Oilers 11-6 in the third period.
If you’re Dallas, you don’t necessarily want to run-and-gun with Edmonton’s high-octane offense, but peppering Skinner consistently with the puck can only lead to good things for the Stars.
Finally, the Stars need to limit the Oilers’ supporting cast when it comes to Edmonton’s offense. It’s virtually guaranteed Dallas will have to deal with some degree of offense from Oilers superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the rest of this series, but in Game 2, Edmonton got goals from defenseman Brett Kulak and right winger Connor Brown, the latter of whom netted his fifth goal of the playoffs.
But in Game 1, Draisaitl scored, as did star defenseman Evan Bouchard, and star center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – and the Stars prevented any other Oilers player from hurting them. If Dallas can keep McDavid, Draisaitl and Bouchard to one or two goals between the three of them in Game 3, and dare the rest of Edmonton’s lineup to beat you, they’re going to have a solid shot at beating the Oilers.
In any case, we expect the Stars to push back hard against the Oilers in Game 3. Dallas hasn’t lost two straight games in this year’s playoffs, and Edmonton could easily squander home-ice advantage if the Stars can put them on their heels with a great showing in Game 3.
We’re not counting out the Oilers by any means, but we believe the Stars have the depth, skill, adjustments and resilience to be Edmonton’s toughest opponent in the current post-season, and we expect nothing short of a terrific battle by the Stars to win Game 3 and emerge in the driver’s seat in this showdown.
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