The Edmonton Oilers returned to the Stanley Cup final for the second straight season, beating their six games in the Western Conference Finals last season, eliminating the Dallas Star with a 6-3 victory.
The Oilers targeted goals from Corey Perry and Mattias Janmark, and caught up with star goalkeeper Jake Oettinger within just seven minutes of the game's start, the only two shots Oettinger had. Edmonton slid back into the locker room with a 3-1 lead in the first stage. The Oilers' offense answered every Dallas goal for the rest of the game, exhausting the stars' momentum, and the Oilers' defense once again stifled its third-stage opponent.
Now, it's time to deal with the Florida Panthers again - the team that beat the Oilers in three straight games got only the Cup before the rally pushed the series to seven games.
In the Expansion Era (Since 1967-68), there were four instances in the same or two team meetings in the Stanley Cup finals in a row. The last happened in 2008 and 2009, when the Detroit Red Wing defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, and then the Penguins defeated Detroit the following season, which made Sidney Crosby his first Stanley Cup.
The Montreal Canadaens beat the last team in a row in the Stanley Cup finals, defeating the Boston Bruins in 1977 and 1978.
Florida will need better efforts to beat this version of the oiler. Edmonton has made considerable upgrades in defensive acumen and playoff confidence since last season.
Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski reviewed what happened in Game 5, and the front of each series.
The Oilers didn't waste time running their business in Game 5 - just like their first goal scored when Perry scored a strong mark in less than three minutes of the game. Janmark then capitalized the star's lazy line changes, bringing the total number of Oil Man less than half of the first stage. Jeff Skinner then scored his first professional playoff goal on the newly inserted Casey Desmith. wilderness.
The Oilers didn’t have Zach Hyman on the roster, but they hardly missed any rhythm due to their rush to enviable depth.
But the stars don't have to walk quietly. Brett Kulak's turnover caused a goal from Jason Robertson behind Stuart Skinner, which cut the Oilers 3-1. Edmonton's penalty kill must be killed on the second time, and the Oilers killed Kulak's sloppy hook little tune, but they can't do it again when Mattias Ekholm suffered another violation. Roope Hintz's Tally included Dallas.
From there, it's like the Oil Man's call and response game. Connor McDavid didn't miss out on the chance to leave just two minutes after Hintz's mark. When Robertson called again in just 38 seconds in the third stage to get Edmonton to call 4-3, Evander Kane recovered the Oilers’ two-ball mat two minutes later.
The Oilers may not have played their best game in the series, but the way they recover from every turnover shows why they have been a force since losing the first game. The powerful target explosion in Dallas seems to be transforming on an outing, and Edmonton will not be denied. - Hilton
The start won the "F" for Dallas and did not finish first in any of the games in this series. To do this on Thursday night, that means the stars can exhale a little and give the Oilers something – anything – in this series. Instead, rookie Mavrik Bourque returned to the roster for the first time since Game 4 against Colorado, with a high free throw of just 1:47 in the game, and Perry converted in a powerful game.
Five minutes later, his entire team sleepwalking in front of him, and Oettinger beats during part of Janmark’s rest. Then the Charter Goalkeeper's night ended abruptly - giving up two goals on two shots to pull into the game with a 7:09 mark. It was head coach Pete Deboer's hail Mary desperate, watching the buzz of the oilman back-up Casey Desmith until Jeff Skinner won his first playoff goal in his second professional playoff game, which was after 1,078 regular season games - putting Dallas into 3-0 holes.
Whatever happens after that, it’s Dallas’s original sin in Game 5 and the story of the series: Stars ends up doing something positive in trying to dig out their own grave and often get back to their own grave. Hinz lowered the lead to 3-2...McDavid scored 2:01. Robertson was once again outstanding, with his second game 4-3. Kane bounced the puck from Esa Lindell in less than three minutes, creating another two-ball mat.
The star overcomes incredible obstacles and reaches the Western Conference Finals for the third straight season. They eliminated the Avalanche in seven games, with Robertson and Miro Heiskanen both missing. They bounced the president-winning Winnipeg Jets in six games.
The kind of reading they died was that the stars performed enough to win more than a game, but the title-level Edmonton’s defensive effort and title-level defensive efforts were their stand-out. (This is the incredible third-cycle team the Oilers have become.) The cynical reading is that the Dallas star didn’t shine as much as Edmonton’s, with its support lineup being beaten, while the Oettinger succumbed to Skinner before pulling out of the series.
Either reading leads to the same location: despite having the best talent collection in these three playoffs, he played for the Stanley Cup for the third consecutive year under Deboer. How the franchise reacts to this will be fascinating. - - Wyshynski
Game 5 Three Stars
1. "Hope Killer" oil worker
Edmonton flew out of the goal in Game 5 and led 3-0 in the first phase. Then, with Dallas playing a single goal, Connor McDavid created a breakthrough by going beyond the mark and scoring. After Jason Robertson scored 4-3, Evander Kane threw a man into a stiff weapon in Esa Lindell's game. Whenever Dallas has hope, Edmonton finds a way to sprint it.
The two won two points in Game 5. Now, both have three playoffs, with 25 points or more, ranking fourth in NHL history. Only Mark Messier (6), Wayne Gretzky (6) and Jari Kurri (5) and more.
Game 5 was Skinner's second professional playoff game, working with Zach Hyman. He was the only NHL player before his playoff debut. He scored his first professional playoff goal and scored the game 3-0 in the first phase. One more moment! - - ArdaÖcal
Big problem
How will Zach Hyman's absence affect Edmonton in the Cup final against Florida?
Panthers play physics games. Heyman (still now) playoff leader (111 players in 15 games). He is also one of Edmonton's most productive forwards, skating with McDavid and contributing to both special team units.
There is no doubt that just because the Oilers didn’t have his tour in Game 5 against Dallas, that doesn’t discount that Heyman would leave when he played against the Panthers. Last year, Heyman scored two goals and four points in the Cup final, and in these playoffs he was better than the final playoffs.
Kris Knoblauch put Skinner in Game 5 but it worked well, but is he still the best choice for Edmonton’s first game against Florida? Especially knowing that the Panthers are different from the Stars?
The Cup Final is a special skill from Heyman, a series that could have changed the rules of the game. But he will not be able to use it, and how the Oiler adjusts is crucial to whether they have a different result than they did 12 months ago. - Hilton
Is this the end of Dallas's Pete Debour?
He reportedly signed a four-year contract when Deboer was hired in 2022 to replace Rick Bowness. In his first three seasons in Dallas, he coached the stars in three Western Conference Finals.
Deboring Debor cannot make his team more and more. He coached the New Jersey Devils (2012) and the San Jose Sharks (2016) to the Stanley Cup finals, but failed to win the championship on either trip. Deborer has lost six times in the Western Conference Finals in eight years since 2018-19.
Again, it's hard to argue about regular season success (the percentage of .665 points, any of the five teams he coaches), or his team's three straight finals. But they had hit the ceiling three times.
This time he couldn't find a way to unlock the stars in the finals. He pulled out the Oettinger in the first one would be a subject of debate.
The ultimate question for GM Jim Nill is: Is there another coach who can get more from Dallas, or is the team going back with Deboer and a few rosters? - Wysshynski