Oilers one win from Cup Final: Game 5 takeaways, early look at Game 6
-
Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
The Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars entered Game 5 in Dallas tied 2-2 in their Western Conference finals series. The Oilers beat the Stars 3-1 and will head home up 3-2 with a chance to end the series Sunday.
Here’s what stood out from Edmonton’s win and what to look for in Game 6, including key players for each team.
Oilers grade: A
Even the most optimistic supporters of the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference finals probably couldn’t have imagined they’d control play and out-defend the Dallas Stars like they did in Game 5. They limited the Stars to four shots on goal in the first period. Dallas went 9:43 without a shot on goal in the second period.
The Oilers were solid in all three zones, got their killer instinct back on the power play and got every save they needed out of Stuart Skinner, who had one of his best games of the postseason.
They squandered a chance to win Game 5 against Vancouver after building a lead. As they’ve done throughout the playoffs, they learned from their mistakes. “You can’t play decent, you can’t play good — you have to play great and you have to do it for a longer period of time than the opposing team were doing it,” defenseman Mattias Ekholm said.
0:37
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins slaps home his 2nd goal for Oilers
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scores his second goal to pad the Oilers’ lead.
Stars grade: D+
Where was the intensity? The feeding off the crowd? The pushback after a Game 4 where the Oilers dominated, as Ekholm put it, for 52 minutes of a 60 minute game.
“The first two periods weren’t good enough. We have to generate more, obviously. And third period, we had some looks, but you’re down three by then,” said center Matt Duchene, who called the Stars’ offense “disjointed.”
Coach Pete DeBoer crudely pushed back when he believed a member of the media was questioning his team’s character after the loss. If only his players showed that much fire.
What we learned in Game 5
That one questionable call can change it all. With 6:09 left in the first period, Stars defenseman Ryan Suter gave Connor McDavid a shove from behind near the boards. McDavid hit the ice and the referee across the zone signaled for a penalty. It was a roughing call that might not rise to the level of a minor penalty in the playoffs.
The Oilers power play was 0-for-6 in the series heading into Game 5. All that meant was that they were due. It took 18 seconds for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to score for the 1-0 lead. The Nuge struck again just 1:06 into the second period after Miro Heiskanen took a delay of game penalty for a 2-0 lead that sucked the wind out of the Stars’ sails — and their home crowd.
“If you’re going to draw a road game, that’s pretty much what you want to do, right?” DeBoer said. “They want to come out, get two power-play goals early in the game, get the lead and then defend well all night. So it’s tough to crack through.”
Players to watch in Game 6
Stuart Skinner. He got a lot of support from a terrific Edmonton defensive effort, but don’t sleep on how Skinner shut the door on the Stars in Game 5 with his 19-save effort.
He robbed Wyatt Johnston on the power play at the end of the second period and flashed his pad to stop a great Logan Stankoven chance later in the game.
He has quietly had a strong series, including 2.2 goals saved above expected in Game 1. He has given up two goals or fewer in four of the five games of the series. As the Stars face elimination, they have to find a way to solve Skinner. You read that correctly.
0:25
Stuart Skinner’s impressive save keeps the Stars scoreless in the 3rd
Oilers’ goalie Stuart Skinner denies the Stars to keep them scoreless in the third period.
Wyatt Johnston. The only player to beat Skinner in Game 5, Johnston now has 10 goals in the postseason for Dallas, four more than any teammate.
The second-year forward has a knack for postseason heroics and the Stars could certainly use some with their back against the wall. A power-play goal would be nice, as Dallas is 0-for-11 in the series with the man advantage.
How good has he been? Johnston became the fifth active player to score 10 goals in a playoff year at age 21 or younger, joining Sidney Crosby (15 in 2009), Nikita Kucherov (10 in 2015), Patrick Kane (10 in 2010) and Evgeni Malkin (10 in 2008).
Big question for Game 6: Can the Dallas offense find cohesion?
The Stars averaged 3.59 goals per game in the regular season. They’ve scored two goals or fewer in their three losses in the conference finals.
Duchene said the Stars aren’t playing as a five-man unit. “It looks like we were on our heels a little too much,” he said. “Sometimes when you want something so bad, you want to try and be too perfect.”
If the Stars can’t find that chemistry, they’ll have all summer to think about what happened to a very good offensive team.
The Carolina Hurricanes have reached a three-year, $9.5 million extension with forward Taylor Hall through the 2027-28 season.
The team announced the signing Wednesday, a day after the Hurricanes closed out the New Jersey Devils in their first-round playoff series. It marked the seventh straight year that Carolina has won at least one postseason series.
Hall, 33, acquired in a blockbuster January deal that included Mikko Rantanen‘s arrival, scored the first of Carolina’s four second-period goals that helped it erase a 3-0 deficit before winning in double overtime. He’s a 15-year veteran who won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP in the 2017-18 season.
“Taylor has proven to be an outstanding fit for our team, and we are thrilled that he is excited to make Raleigh his home for another three seasons,” general manager Eric Tulsky said in a statement. “He’s been a solid veteran presence in the locker room and a difference maker on the ice.”
Hall had 18 goals and 24 assists in 77 regular-season games between Chicago and Carolina, and also had two assists in the five-game series win against New Jersey. He had missed most of the previous season due to knee surgery and was making $6 million this year with free agency looming, then led Carolina skaters with four power-play goals in the regular season after his arrival.
The Hurricanes acquired the 2010 No. 1 overall draft pick on Jan. 24 in the three-team deal that snagged Rantanen from Colorado, though they later sent Rantanen to Dallas with forward Logan Stankoven as the primary trade-deadline return when it became clear Rantanen was unlikely to sign long-term to stay with Carolina.
Hall and Tulsky are scheduled to address reporters by Zoom later Wednesday.
-
Greg Wyshynski
Utah Hockey Club officials wouldn’t confirm whether “Mammoth” was their new name after it allegedly leaked on the team’s official YouTube channel Tuesday night.
Fans and media noticed that the channel’s handle was changed from “@UtahHockeyClub” to “@UtahMammoth,” on both its landing page and URL. The channel was soon deactivated and remained so on Wednesday morning, but not before screenshots of the name change went viral.
Utah Mammoth was one of three finalists featured in a fan vote at Delta Center to help determine the permanent name of the team, which played its inaugural season in 2024-25 after SEG purchased and relocated the former Arizona Coyotes franchise. Fans voted with iPads located at stations around the arena that featured the names, logos and potential branding for each option.
Originally, the three names voted on were Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club and Utah Wasatch, which was quickly swapped out for Utah Outlaws after the team saw early vote returns.
Mammoth made the final four in the initial fan vote last year.
Utah HC executives wouldn’t confirm or deny that Mammoth will be the team’s new nickname.
Mike Maughan, an executive with Utah HC owner Smith Entertainment Group, said on Wednesday that “progress continues on exploring all three of the name options that were chosen as finalists by our fans. We’re fully on track to announce a permanent name and identity ahead of the 25-26 NHL season and look forward to sharing that with our fans when we do.”
When pressed for an explanation on the alleged YouTube leak, Maughan would only say, “We’re fully on track to announce a permanent name and identity ahead of the 25-26 NHL season.”
One NHL source told ESPN that the revelation for the team’s new name and logo could come before the NHL draft in late June. This year’s draft is a “decentralized” event, meaning that teams will be making selections from their own sites rather than in one central location. That opens the door for Utah to have an event in Salt Lake City with team officials around the draft.
In other Utah HC news, the team announced Wednesday that Delta Center, home to Utah HC and the Utah Jazz, will be undergoing a renovation to optimize hockey sightlines while maintaining the proximity of basketball fans to the court using a state-of-the-art retractable seating system. It’s a multiyear project that will also create a new main entrance and outdoor plaza.
The first-of-its-kind seating system accommodates a nearly 12-foot variance in elevation between rink and court endlines to offer optimal sightlines for both the NBA and NHL. Every seat in the lower bowl will have a complete view of the ice at the start of next season — the team estimates that 400 seats currently can only see one goal net during games.
The new hockey configuration adds capacity behind the goals and above and around the event tunnels on the north and south side of the lower bowl and improves access to seating behind the boards.
When all renovations are complete, seating capacity for hockey will increase from 11,131 to approximately 17,000 — with every seat in the upper and lower bowls having full views of both goals — and capacity for basketball will increase from 18,206 to nearly 19,000 seats.
“Delta Center was built for basketball. When you come and put the size of an ice sheet in that venue with those sight lines, the geometry just doesn’t work. So that’s where you come up with the riser system configuration. You come up with raising the floor 2 feet,” said Jim Olson, president of the Jazz and executive representing SEG on all facilities projects.
“We are absolutely protecting the basketball experience, but then also creating a great hockey experience where all the seats can see all the ice,” he said.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway