The Edmonton Oilers overcame an early deficit to drop the Dallas Stars 5-2 Wednesday night Rogers Place. The best-of-seven Western Conference Final is tied 2-2.
“They’re a great team. They’re going to grab momentum at times in this series–it’s about what we do to go grab it back,” Oilers forward Connor Brown said post-game. “We had guys jumping over the boards trying to get that momentum back.”
The Stars scored on the game’s first shot when Wyatt Johnston wired a shot past Stuart Skinner’s glove on a two-on-one. Less than five minutes later, Esa Lindell’s point shot was going well wide but struck Darnell Nurse’s posterior and deflected past Skinner. The Oilers responded with two goals in 2:37.
“We responded well and kept our foot on the pedal and just kept plugging away. It was a great win,” Oilers forward Corey Perry said.
Ryan McLeod, back in action after being scratched in Game 3, popped a rebound past Jake Oettinger for his first of the playoffs. Then Evan Bouchard buried the rebound of a Connor McDavid shot to make it 2-2.
The Oilers exceptional penalty-killing unit made a big impact in the second. Brown set up Mattias Janmark for a shorthanded goal on a two-on-one as the Oilers killed off their 22nd consecutive minor.
“I believe that shorthanded goal was the game-winning goal,” Oilers Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. “No matter who we’ve had in the lineup, we’ve had a lot of guys in and out–those penalty killers–but everyone’s stepped up and take a lot of pride in that job.”
Just 51 seconds later, Leon Draisaitl snapped his 10th past Oettinger’s blocker.
The penalty kill made it 23 in a row in the third, negating a tripping call against Zach Hyman.
“We’ve been confident lately,” Janmark said about Edmonton’s penalty kill. “We got them a little bit on their heels today.”
The Stars pulled Oettinger for an extra attacker with 2:44 left. Mattias Ekholm hit the empty net with 1:53 on the clock.
Skinner earned the win with 20 saves. Oettinger stopped 24.
McDavid had three assists.
Game five is Friday in Dallas (630 CHED, Face-off Show at 4:30 p.m., game at 6:30 p.m.).
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