Stars notebook: It was okay, but they found those keys
Dallas evens the series 1-1 with Edmonton after crucial win in Game 2.
Well, that was okay?
The Stars won the game. That is all that matters. But it was not pretty.
Dallas was the second-best team in this game for about 40-45 minutes. Despite an early Jamie Benn goal on the Stars’ first shot, the Oilers dominated the first period. Edmonton outshot Dallas 16-4 and both quickly tied the game 1-1 and pushed toward the leading goal.
More of that in the second. But it looked a little different.
Instead of turning the good play into chances, the Oilers made some mistakes and could not get shots past the Dallas skaters, as the game slowly evened itself out. But even though it was still tied, it certainly felt like it was in Edmonton’s control. Even the announcers on TNT thought so.
But we remained tied, and the Stars slowly inched their way back in.
It was the perfect recipe for Dallas. Well, maybe perfect is not the right word. But it was the ideal recipe for the way the Stars were playing in this game.
They needed time to get their legs under them. They needed to get themselves in neutral before they could hit the next gear and tilt the ice like we have seen so often in these playoffs.
And they needed to find a line or two that could click. The trio of Jamie Benn, Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven was one of them. But they needed more.
Stars coach Pete DeBoer felt that, making a few changes to the forward lines, including putting Mason Marchment in Ty Dellandrea’s spot on the fourth line with Sam Steel and Craig Smith.
The result was immediate. That line got in on the forecheck and a great reaching poke by Steel allowed Ryan Suter to throw a wrist shot into the slot from the point.
Marchment got a stick on it, the puck slowly bounced through the arm of Stuart Skinner and the Stars had their first lead of the series.
From there, we saw that Dallas team that knocked off the past two Stanley Cup champions to get to this point. They checked hard, they swarmed the puck at their own blue line and they made the necessary plays to get the job done.
That includes blocking shots.
Dallas blocked 22 shots in the game, compared to nine for Edmonton. And they had some big-time blocks. How about Miro Heiskanen getting his leg on this shot by Evan Bouchard from the high slot after Bouchard dangled to open up some space in the final minutes?
Huge. And he was not the only one.
When Dallas was not able to get in front of Edmonton’s chances, Jake Oettinger was just nice and tidy in the crease behind them. Oettinger stopped 28 of 29 (.966 save percentage) shots, including 15 of 16 in the first period.
The 25-year-old continued his absolutely stellar play since struggling in Game 1 of the opening round and made some key saves in big moments tonight.
Call them the locksmiths, cuz they had the keys
The keys to this series were pretty simple. Check-in on them if you want:
The short version is this: don’t let the top guys beat you by themselves, win the goaltending battle against a struggling Stuart Skinner and slow down the Edmonton power play.
Don’t let the top guys beat you: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evan Bouchard = 0 points, -4 rating overall
Win the goaltending battle: Skinner was excellent in Game 1. It was actually really surprising. He earned the win. And while he wasn’t nearly as bad tonight as his “worst playoff goalie in the salary cap era” statistics have been, he did allow a pretty soft goal to Benn in the first period, and that was enough for Oettinger to win the duel.
Slow down the Edmonton power play: EDM 0-2
Sometimes, hockey is a simple game.
Dallas is now 5-1 following a loss in these playoffs. That includes:
Winning Game 3 in overtime to stay in the series against Vegas
Putting the defending champs away in Game 7 after they forced the final game with a home win
Holding on to an almost blown lead to even the series 1-1 in Game 2 against Colorado
Finishing off the Avs in double overtime on the road in Game 6
And now, getting themselves right back in this series as it heads to Alberta for Games 3 and 4
They will have to be better in Game 3 than they were tonight.
They found a way. But if the Oilers are buzzing with 16 shots and loads of scoring chances in the first period at home on Monday, I have a strong feeling it will not be 1-1 at first intermission.
Dallas needs to be ready to go from the start.
Maybe they will get a boost from the return of Roope Hintz? We’ll see.