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The first blood in the Western Conference Finals is green.
The Edmonton Oilers made it perfectly clear in their opening game of the third round of the playoffs that they would not be the dominating Dallas that most experts predicted, defeating the Central Division champions 3-2 in double overtime.
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The Oilers were talking about them having the ability to win this game from the start, and Connor McDavid proved it when he scored the game-winner 32 seconds into the second overtime period.
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“We have to win close games,” McDavid said. “We’re down to the final four teams, and you don’t make the final four unless you’re a great team. Dallas is a great team and it’s going to be close games. We’re used to these games and this environment.”
“I thought I played really well throughout the game.”
McDavid had his team short-manned for four minutes at the start of the first overtime period and missed a golden opportunity to win late in the game, but he ended his night with the winning point.
“He had a chance to score in the first overtime and in my experience here, he’s not going to be stopped a second time,” Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “It didn’t matter who scored tonight. What mattered was that someone scored. It was Connor who scored and I’m not surprised it was him.”
Game 1 was a classic Edmonton-Dallas affair, losing the series opener by one shot, with virtually no separation between the two biggest teams in the conference.
The Oilers were resilient, overcoming a slow first period, a late Dallas comeback and a devastating double-minor penalty in overtime to take a 1-0 series lead with five power plays for the Stars and one for Edmonton.
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“We’ve talked all season about how mature and responsible these guys are no matter what and how they handle adversity,” coach Chris Knobloch said. “We just move on and prepare for the next shift. (The late tying goal) is tough for our team and hard to bounce back from.”
“But our guys didn’t seem discouraged and just persevered.”
PK Heroes
McDavid’s stick often wins the Oilers games, but on Thursday it nearly cost them.
The Oilers captain received a double-minor penalty for high-sticking Matt Duchene on a faceoff 17 seconds into overtime, forcing Edmonton into a tough four minutes of defensive play.
“It was long. Really long. Really, really long,” McDavid said of his stay in Dallas’ sin bin. “It was miserable. I hated every minute of it.”
But the Oilers’ penalty killers put in a heroic performance to save the game.
“The penalty kill was great,” McDavid said. “I can’t give enough credit to our guys for stepping in there for four minutes with a good power play.”
Edmonton’s penalty killing continues to be a highlight of their playoff run: two in the first period, another in the second and a four-minute kill in overtime gave them 19 consecutive kills in their last five games.
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“Our guys knew what to do,” Knobloch said. “It was almost like our penalty killers were excited to go out there and were like, ‘We’ve got a job to do, and we’re going to get it done.'”
Good signs
The concerns about the Oilers coming into this series – their depth and their goaltending – both held up well in Game 1. Edmonton’s third and fourth lines generated momentum, Stuart Skinner kept his word to Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger, and from there Edmonton’s top players showed they could be relied on again in the playoffs.
But after Leon Draiseitel and Zach Hyman put Edmonton up 2-0 in the second period, the Stars tied it on two goals from Tyler Seguin and then sent the game into overtime with his second goal with 3:23 left in the third period.
Draisaitl’s goal extended his playoff point streak to 13 games, tying him with Mark Messier and Bobby Orr for the third-longest postseason streak in NHL history.
be coldly repaid
After 27 years, the Stars finally got revenge for Curtis Joseph’s incredible overtime save against Joe Nieuwendyk in the 1997 playoffs. McDavid was in nearly the same situation as Nieuwendyk, with time and space and the game on his stick. But Ottinger, with help from defenseman Chris Tanev, made the stop with his paddle. Edmonton ended up winning, but it was a great save.
“Just put it in the net, that’s it,” McDavid said. “It should have been in the net. I’m glad we won. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep otherwise.”
Email: rtychkowski@postmedia.com
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