All looked well for the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the Western Conference final against the Dallas Stars until they got in penalty trouble.
It started at the end of the middle frame when defenseman Brett Kulak took his second minor penalty of the game.
Edmonton took its 3-1 lead to the third period. However, that’s when Dallas found momentum. Stars blueliner Miro Heiskanen floated a shot from the point and beat Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner to make it a 3-2 game before Kulak’s penalty ended.
“The goal from the point, I should’ve looked on the right side a little bit quicker,” Skinner told reporters post-game.
The Oilers’ netminder had to deal with heavy traffic on that goal, but he didn’t use that as an excuse and said he needs to improve in those situations.
“It’s always something that you’ve got to fight through,” he said. “It’s just competitiveness… I just got to fight through that. I got to battle them as much as battling for sight of puck, and that’s what makes the game tough.”
Not long after Heiskanen got Dallas’ comeback rolling, Oilers right winger Corey Perry was called for high-sticking. Stars center Mikael Granlund made no mistake from the half boards, sniping it home to make it a tie game.
Following that goal, center Matt Duchene took advantage of Edmonton’s third stick infraction of the period, with Evander Kane heading to the box. Duchene scored his first of the playoffs, and Dallas got its first lead of the game.
The Stars went on to score another two goals, totalling five in the third period.
NHL Playoff Predictions 2025: Will The Stars Or Oilers Win The Western Conference Final?The second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs are over, so it’s once again time to offer our series predictions. In the second round, we went 1-1 with our Western picks, and we’re back to offer up our projections for the Western Conference final.
“We’re very disappointed,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters after the game. After the first two periods, we felt it was a good start, and then it just turned in the third period.”
The last time Edmonton allowed three power-play goals in a period was in 1992 against the Vancouver Canucks, according to Sportsnet Stats.
In the post-game scrums, the Oilers made it clear to reporters that they weren’t pleased with their penalty-killing during the stretch that ultimately lost them the game.
“We’ve got to be an awful lot more mature than that,” Leon Draisaitl said.
Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse spent 2:14 of ice time killing penalties in this game. He wasn’t happy with the team’s ability to make plays on the PK. He mentioned blocking shots and clearing opponents from in front of the net.
“When the PK gets out there, we got to step up and make plays,” Nurse said. “We got to kill better. It’s as simple as that.”
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