Edmonton Oilers look to even series with Dallas Stars after fraught final frame in Game 1

Field Level Media

· Posted: May 23, 2025 1:14 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

The Edmonton Oilers person a straightforward task: Kill oregon beryllium killed.

The visiting Oilers way 1-0 successful the best-of-seven Western Conference finals heading into Friday's Game 2 clash with the Dallas Stars aft surrendering 5 unanswered third-period goals successful the 6-3 opener.

The archetypal 3 of those final-frame tallies came portion the Stars were connected the powerfulness play, which turned Edmonton's two-goal borderline into an insurmountable 4-3 deficit.

"We struggled [on the punishment kill] to commencement the play and recovered it again," Oilers guardant Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said Thursday.

"Last twelvemonth successful the playoffs, it made a immense interaction for america positively and we cognize we tin get backmost there."

The Oilers person surrendered 14 power-play goals successful lone 12 playoff games.

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Granted, six of those goals came successful the archetypal 3 games of the playoffs erstwhile they faced the Los Angeles Kings. While determination is immoderate improvement, the penalty-kill woes could go a series-deciding contented if they are not addressed.

The Stars person scored 15 power-play goals during the playoffs, 5 much than immoderate different team.

That said, the Oilers had a accidental to marque their people connected a powerfulness play of their ain soon aft falling down but failed to find the mark.

"The crippled got distant from america done the termination and past our powerfulness play, erstwhile you person a accidental to necktie it, wasn't overmuch better," Edmonton guardant Leon Draisaitl said.

"We person to look astatine it and close it."

One facet successful Edmonton's favour is its history: The Oilers person won 9 bid since 2017 and trailed astatine immoderate constituent successful 7 of them.

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"We've been truly bully successful high-pressure situations, high-pressure games," Edmonton skipper Connor McDavid said.

"Game 2 tin beryllium 1 of those. We've got to find a mode to get a win. A batch of positives came retired of Game 1 ... and I don't deliberation we've got to alteration a lot."

The Stars, who were blanked connected 14 power-play chances erstwhile they mislaid to the Oilers successful past year's league final, reiterated their comeback quality arsenic good arsenic scoring extent successful the opener.

Dallas has conscionable arsenic galore comeback victories successful this year's Stanley Cup pursuit with six.

"It mightiness beryllium oversimplifying it, but Edmonton bushed america retired past twelvemonth due to the fact that their peculiar teams were amended than ours," Stars manager Pete DeBoer said.

"We've precocious done the archetypal 2 rounds and won the special-teams battle. It's not everything, but it's a truly important part, and erstwhile you're feeling bully astir those parts of a game, you're ne'er out."

The Stars besides proved however the acquisition of reaching a 3rd consecutive league last allows a level of composure erstwhile a crippled is not going their mode and knowing however to close the ship.

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Dallas has surrendered the archetypal extremity successful 11 of its 14 playoff games. Aside from that imaginable issue, the Stars proceed to person a businesslike attack to the situation.

That cognition is however they mounted a comeback and however they privation to attack the adjacent clash with an accidental to instrumentality a 2-0 pb earlier the bid shifts north.

"With the past mates runs we've been on, we're a seasoned squad with a batch of experience," Dallas guardant Mason Marchment said.

"In the room, we're talking and being positive, adjacent erstwhile we cognize we haven't brought our champion crippled done 2 periods. ... There's a batch of content successful that room."