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There’s no satisfaction in bogeying the second hole after birdieing the first, but it doesn’t matter because the Edmonton Oilers are neck and neck with the Dallas Stars after two games in the Western Conference finals.
“After you get that first win, you want to get that second win. That was our goal going into Game 2,” Oilers forward Derek Ryan said. “And since that didn’t happen, we’re going to move on and look toward Game 3.”
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Go home
With the outcome still up in the air, the Oilers are hoping the change of venue will be enough to tilt the outcome decisively in their favor. They haven’t played much at home recently — six of Edmonton’s past nine playoff appearances have been on the road, and they haven’t been to Rogers Place since May 18. But they know what awaits them — and the Stars.
“This is a great place to play at this time of year,” Ryan said. “Everybody on the team knows that and everybody that played against us in Edmonton knows that. It’s a great environment here.”
“You drive around town and there are flags everywhere. You go to the grocery store and people come up to you and thank you and appreciate you and cheer you on. It’s a great place to play.”
The Oilers are 4-2 at home in the playoffs, but they know from experience that the longer the playoffs go on, the louder the cheers in the city get.
“When it comes time for the playoffs, we have one of the best facilities in the league,” defenseman Darnell Nurse said.
I have to bury it.
The Oilers missed a huge opportunity in Game 2 and knew it, leading 1-0 in the series and outshooting Dallas 16-4 in the first period only to end up with a 1-1 tie.
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We saw this in the series against Vancouver, where Edmonton failed to capitalize on their opportunities and stretched a series they should have won in five to seven games.
They managed to get away with it against the Canucks, but they can’t give a second life to a team as good as Dallas.
“We were talking about this after Game 3 against Vancouver,” coach Chris Knobloch said of the 5-3 loss despite being outshot 45-18.
“We lost. Their goalie played really well, but we missed some chances. We had four or five goal posts and some pucks in the blue paint.”
“Throughout the season, sometimes things will go well and sometimes they won’t. I don’t think we need to panic or change anything. Things will work out over time. We’re not going to screw things up and say we need to change the way we play.”
But the goal scorers know that missing a clear scoring opportunity is no different than a defenseman failing to cover, and if they don’t take those chances, Edmonton can’t beat the Stars.
“At this stage, when you get an opportunity, you have to go all out. Not everything is going to go your way, but when you get an opportunity, you have to go all out because it can mean the difference between winning or losing a match or a series. Opportunities don’t come along very often, so when you get an opportunity, you have to give it your best.”
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Last changes
Being the home team means Edmonton will make the final substitutions for the next two games, but Knobloch doesn’t think that will be a big factor with the way he’s lined up.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “If you look at the first two games, it seemed like both coaches were comfortable with rolling lines. Sure, we matched up a little bit, but my fourth line played against their first line and their fourth line played against our first line. We’re both comfortable with who’s there and we’re not going to hide from anything.”
“Usually teams feel better at home, they sleep in their own beds and have the home fans cheering them on, so that’s nice, but with the last-minute changes I’m not sure it’s going to be that much of an advantage.”
Counterattack
Following the loss, the Oilers are on a 4-0 playoff run and seem to be gaining momentum as the series progresses, winning all five games after a tie with Los Angeles and then going 3-1 in seven games after a 2-1 loss to Vancouver.
That could be a good sign heading into Game 3.
“There’s a lot of accountability in this room,” Knobloch said. “We have a lot of competitive guys, especially our top-tier players. It’s going to be a tough, long series and we’re going to need that attitude again this time because we’re going to have to step up every game.”
Email: rtychkowski@postmedia.com
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