The Dallas Stars evened their Western Conference Final series against the Edmonton Oilers with a 3-1 win on their home ice. The Stars, who dropped Game 1 in overtime, find themselves right back in the series. This wasn’t exactly a do-or-die contest for them, but a loss would have put their season in jeopardy.
Rather uncharacteristically based on the first game of the series, both the Stars and Oilers came out hot right out of the gate. On a 2-on-1 rush with Logan Stankoven, captain Jamie Benn fired a far-side, low-blocker shot at Edmonton netminder Stuart Skinner that he was unable to spot with just 3:39 gone in the first period. Less than a minute later, Connor Brown for the Oilers scored the second playoff goal of his 28-game postseason career as a result of a 2-on-2 rush. After that, though, the scoring stopped.
It wasn’t until just under four minutes passed in the third period that the game saw its next goal. Defenseman Ryan Suter fired a shot from the point that was deflected by Mason Marchment and past Skinner. Considering Game 1 had just four goals scored in regulation overall, the Oilers getting a goal back with essentially the whole period ahead of them was a bigger challenge than it sounds. They weren’t able to come back.
Dallas and Edmonton traded chances for the rest of the game, but the Stars and goaltender Jake Oettinger held down the fort for the win. Both he and Skinner were excellent, stopping 50 of 53 shots combined.
Esa Lindell got an insurance marker for the Stars with just over two minutes to go in the third period, sinking an empty-net tally from long range. Benn and Wyatt Johnston got the assists, giving them each two points on the night.
Notes from the Game
For just the fourth time in the postseason, Oiler captain Connor McDavid was held off of the score sheet. For the first time, Leon Draisaitl didn’t register a single point, either. The Stars did a wonderful job of shutting down Edmonton’s primary source for offense, which is something the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks both failed to do — it’s a big reason why the Oilers eliminated those teams in the first and second rounds.
Miro Heiskanen of the Stars registered his 14th point of the postseason in just 15 games. The two-way defenseman has reached a whole new level in the postseason, becoming one of Dallas’ most important producers point-wise and someone who eats up a lot of minutes.
Related: Dallas Stars’ Miro Heiskanen on Pace to Have Record-Breaking Playoffs
Oettinger won the 22nd game of his playoff career, officially giving him the second-highest total in the history of the Stars. He now only trails Ed Belfour for the top mark in team history, who had an astounding 44 postseason wins in 73 postseason contests with Dallas.
In the postseason overall, the Oilers have a 4-2 record on their home ice at Rogers Place, while the Stars have a 5-1 record on the road. With a chance for each team to go up 2-1 in the series, we should see another highly competitive matchup. So far, these games have gone down to the wire.