powered by Edmonton Sun and Edmonton Journal Sports |
|
|
Next Game: Western Conference Final, Game 2 Edmonton Oilers @ Dallas Stars, tonight, 6 p.m.
|
Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner reacts as Dallas Stars forward Mikael Granlund is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a goal during the third period in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final at American Airlines Center on May 21, 2025 in Dallas, Texas. Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images. |
Western Conference Final Game 2 Notes: Edmonton Oilers (8-4) @ Dallas Stars (9-5) |
• The Oilers are coming off a 6-3 loss to Dallas in Game 1 on Wednesday • Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed on Thursday that defenceman Mattias Ekholm won't be available for Game 2 tonight • After surrendering three power play goals in Game 1, the Oilers have given up 14 power play goals in 12 playoff games
• Oilers forward Connor Brown didn't participate in the team's morning skate on Friday. Jeff Skinner replaced Brown in line rushes with Adam Henrique and Evander Kane Edmonton Oilers projected lineup
Nugent-Hopkins – McDavid– Hyman
Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Kapenen
Kane – Henrique – Brown/Skinner
Janmark – Frederic – Perry
Kulak – Bouchard
Nurse – Stecher
Walman – Klingberg
Skinner
Rodrigue
Dallas Stars projected lineup
Granlund — Hintz — Rantanen
Robertson — Duchene — Robertson
Marchment — Steel — Seguin
Benn — Back — Dadonov
Harley — Heiskanen
Lindell — Ceci
Bichsel — Petrovic
Oettinger
DeSmith |
Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner allows a goal to Mikael Granlund (not pictured) of the Dallas Stars during the third period in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center on May 21, 2025, in Dallas, Tex. Sam Hodde/Getty Images. |
Edmonton Oilers special teams going full Hellebuyck in the playoffs |
By Robert Tychkowski
The only things missing from Edmonton’s epic collapse Wednesday night in Dallas were Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.
It was cringeworthy stuff.
When a comfortable 3-1 third-period lead deteriorates into a 6-3 defeat thanks to three power-play goals on three separate power plays in less than six minutes, you’ve got a problem.
A serious one.
If things don’t change, and fast, the soft white underbelly in an otherwise powerful Edmonton Oilers team, a weakness that lost them Game 1 of the Western Conference Final, is going to derail a very good shot at a Stanley Cup.
The Oilers are good enough to be league champions in every aspect of the game. They’re tight defensively. They have the superstars. They have the depth scoring and toughness. The goaltending is good enough when the defence is on point. They have the experience. They have the motivation.
It’s all there. And head-to-head, five-on-five, they smoked the Dallas Stars in Game 1.
But if the other guys score on every second power play, Edmonton has no shot.
It’s kill or be killed. It’s as simple as that.
“Of course it needs to get figured out,” said PK regular Connor Brown. “Any time you have a hole in your game, you’re looking at it. We’re not shying away from it, we’re not pretending it’s going to get fixed without attention to detail and accountability. There is a lot of accountability in that room, top to bottom.”
This is nothing new. It wasn’t just Wednesday night. The penalty killing has been leaking oil for most of the year. It was 16th in the league after 82 games and continues to be an area of concern in the postseason.
It’s allowed two or more power play goals in five of 12 games so far (14 goals against in total) and sits second last among all 16 playoff teams at 62.2 per cent.
But the home and road splits are truly bizarre. They’re basically the Winnipeg Jets of special teams: dynamite at home, a bomb crater on the road.
At Rogers Place, the PK is a respectable 83.3 per cent, but the minute they go on the road it turns into Connor Hellebuyck — just 52.2 per cent, dead last of any team that survived the first round.
The power play is similarly lopsided. At home, it’s tops in the NHL at 60 per cent (six-for-10) and on the road it’s just 5.9 per cent (one-for-17), dead last among any team that survived the first round.
Leon Draisaitl can’t explain the massive gulf.
“No, I can’t,” he said. “But we have to figure it out.”
In a hurry. You can’t give up a goal on every second penalty you take on the road and expect to beat a Dallas team that has the second-best power play in the playoffs. Your power play can’t put up the ‘gone fishing’ sign every time it leaves Edmonton.
|
▶️ WATCH: Oilers forwards Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins speaks to media on Thursday |
|
|
▶️ WATCH: Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch speaks to the media on Thursday after practice |
|
|
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EDMONTON OILERS' PLAYOFF BOUNCE-BACK ABILITY?
|
All throughout these playoffs, the Edmonton Oilers have shown an incredible ability to bounce back.
Whether it was from being down 2-0 in the opening-round series to the Los Angeles Kings, or setting an NHL post-season record by coming from behind in five consecutive wins, the Oilers’ never-say-die attitude was on full display.
In seven games, they managed to outscore the opposition 18-6 in third periods and overtime. When they were down, they were never truly out. Until now. Meeting the Dallas Stars in a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Final, the Oilers found themselves on the other side of a comeback push, seeing the 3-1 lead they took into the third period disappear with not three, not four, but five unanswered goals on the way to a 6-3 loss.
Make that an utterly demoralizing 6-3 loss. After all, they were supposed to be the ones who owned the final 20 minutes of the game. Instead, they didn’t even bother to show up after the second intermission. “Yeah, really good for 40 and really bad for 20. Ultimately, that’s what it came down to,” said captain Connor McDavid. “Where did it get away from us? Obviously, the kill.”
The Oilers penalty kill went 1-for-4, surrendering all three goals in a span of 5:26 before six minutes expired in the third period. And if the Oilers had any notions of putting together another bounce back, they’d have had better luck dribbling a deflated basketball. |
|
HOW DOES CRAIG MACTAVISH, EX-OILERS COACH AND AN ACE PENALTY-KILLER, SEE GAME 1 COLLAPSE? |
Fitting that the Edmonton Oilers’ media availability Thursday was at the Dallas dining salon Rotisserie 2 … feature item on the menu, roasted penalty kill.
Yeah, food for thought — how the Oilers found themselves on a spit in Game 1.
On the mourning after the day before, we’re left to digest how they could get burned for three Stars PP goals on three shots in the third period, over a span of just under six minutes, to choke on a 6-3 loss after thoroughly dominating Dallas 5-on-5 for the first 40 minutes.
The Oilers, after going 11 straight games without giving up a power-play goal in last spring’s playoff run — Vancouver’s Elias Lindholm, 17:35 of Period 2 in Game 3 in the second round to Florida’s Evan Rodrigues, 12:26 of Period 3 in Game 2 in the finals — have now given up 14 goals on 37 tries over 12 games this year
“Wow that’s good playing,” laughed Craig MacTavish, the former Oiler head coach and ace NHL penalty-killer, who has seen the foibles of the penalty kill from both sides.
“Somebody told me years ago … the greatest comment I’ve heard in the game, that you’re never as good as you think you are and you’re never as bad as you think you are. It’s very true.”
“Last year, they stayed on a roll, now they’re on a roll the other way and have to get off it. You’re torn between a tactical adjustment and staying with what you’ve done in the past and hope they don’t find those little holes that they found in Game 1,” said MacTavish. |
|
|
Edmonton Oilers 2025 Stanley Cup playoff statistics
|
|
|
Connor McDavid: 12 GP, 3 G, 16 A, 19 PTS
Leon Draisaitl: 12 GP, 6 G, 13 A, 19 PTS Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: 12 GP, 4 G, 7 A, 11 PTS Zach Hyman: 12 GP, 3 G, 5 A, 8 PTS Evander Kane: 11 GP, 4 G, 3 A, 7 PTS
|
|
Evan Bouchard: 12 GP, 5 G, 8 A, 13 PTS Darnell Nurse: 12 GP, 2 G, 3 A, 5 PTS -
John Klingberg: 11 GP, 0 G, 3 A, 3 PTS
- Jake Walman: 12 GP, 1 G, 1 A, 2 PTS
- Brett Kulak: 12 GP, 0 G, 2 A, 2 PTS
|
| Calvin Pickard: 7 GP, 6-0-0, .888 SV%, 2.84 GAA Stuart Skinner: 6 GP, 2-4-0, .872 SV%, 3.39 GAA
|
|
|
Did you like this newsletter? Tell your friends to sign up here. |
|
|
Edmonton Oilers assistant coach Paul Coffey speaks to the defensemen in practice during Media Day prior to the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on June 7, 2024 in Sunrise, Florida. Photo by Bruce Bennett /Getty Images. |
It's not broken so why is Paul Coffey still trying to fix Oilers d-man pairings? |
By David Staples Is Paul Coffey over-thinking things? Is he messing with success?
It seems that way, yes.
Two things can be true at once when it comes to Oilers d-man coach Coffey, that he has done a brilliant job when it comes to motivating and freeing up his defencemen to play their best game. Every single Oilers d-man improved when Coffey and Kris Knoblauch took over from former. coach Jay Woodcroft and Dave Manson.
Coffey seemed to make all the right moves when it came to finding a way to get his d-men to make solid plays with the puck and better reads without it. Part of that was moving towards Knoblauch’s zone defence. The other part was Coffey ability to work with each d-man to play a more assured game.
At the same time, however, Coffey makes some iffy and highly questionable choices when it comes to deployment, when it comes to getting the right d-men matched up with one another on the ice. This has come to a head in the 2025 playoffs, just as it did last playoff season.
In the 2024 playoffs, Coffey struggled mightily to find the right match for Darnell Nurse. The Oilers tried out Cody Ceci, Vincent Desharnais and Brett Kulak, but were getting caved in no matter who was out there with Nurse. At the time Nurse was struggling with injury. Things finally settled down somewhat when Coffey made the bold move of putting young Philip Broberg together with Nurse against Florida.
With Broberg and Nurse at even strength, the Oilers scored 75% of the goals. That compares to 30% Nurse with Ceci, 20% with Desharnais and 25% with Kulak.
Lesson: it evidently makes a huge difference to Nurse and the Oilers to get Nurse on the ice with the right partner. It might even be job one for an Oilers d-man coach. |
|
|
▶️ The Cult of Hockey's "Who will win: Oilers vs Stars?" podcast
|
|
|
|
