The Edmonton Oilers advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006, after a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Sunday night at Rogers Place.
“There’s been lots of growing pains, for sure — lots of lessons along the way,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said after the game. “But this was always part of the plan and it feels good to be here today.”
The Oilers won the NHL Western Conference Final 4-2. Goaltender Stuart Skinner made 34 saves as the Oilers set a team record for fewest shots on goal in a playoff game with 10.
“It’s never the intention to sit back,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said.
“We’re not sitting here talking about a win if it wasn’t for him,” McDavid said of Skinner’s play.
“We’re on a plane to Dallas if it wasn’t for Stu.”
The Oilers grabbed the lead 4:17 into the game, thanks to a slice of brilliance on the power play, courtesy of McDavid.
He swooped in from the left side, dragged the puck to his backhand and sliced his fifth of the post-season past Stars netminder Jake Oettinger. It was the Oilers’ first shot on goal.
“I like being on that left flank and I tried to get to the middle of the rink,” McDavid said as he recounted the goal.
“That was the best way I thought possible, and I just tried to get a backhand on net.”
“There’s one player in the world that can make plays like that and things like that happen,” Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said of Edmonton’s captain.
On another power play, Oilers winger Zach Hyman roofed his 14th to make it 2-0.
The Oilers killed off two penalties to run their streak to 27 straight kills. The Stars outshot the Oilers 12-3 in the first.
Dallas continued to dominate territorial play in the second period. Skinner had to hold strong in the Oilers’ net as the shots were 9-5 for Dallas in the period.
“It was just a hard-fought battle through the whole 60 minutes,” Skinner said.
“They gave us a hard time every single game.”
Draisaitl was sent off the ice early in the third period for shooting the puck over the glass, but again the Oilers came up with a kill.
The Stars finally tallied on their 30th shot of the game, with Mason Marchment slamming in a pass from Tyler Seguin with 10:42 to go in the third period.
The Stars continued to apply pressure as time ticked away.
The crowd erupted as the final seconds ran out with a chant of “We want the (Stanley) Cup” echoing through Rogers Place. The Stars outshot the Oilers 14-2 in the third.
Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard had two assists.
The Oilers will visit the Florida Panthers for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday.
You can listen to the game live on 630 CHED, beginning with The Faceoff Show at 4 p.m. MT. The actual game starts at 6 p.m. MT.