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Player grades: Oilers turn tables on Stars, bounce back from 0-2 deficit to win going away

As pivotal games go, this one could hardly have gotten off to a worse start. Trailing 2-1 in the Western Conference Finals, the Edmonton Oilers yielded a goal in the game’s first minute on a bad pinch by a defenceman playing an unfamiliar position. They allowed a second not five minutes later when an innocuous point shot off a faceoff took the unfriendliest of bounces off another defender’s backside and into the net. The game wasn’t six minutes old, the Oilers were down 0-2 and they hadn’t so much as generated a shot on goal.

As pivotal games go, this one could hardly have gotten off to a worse start. Trailing 2-1 in the Western Conference Finals, the Edmonton Oilers yielded a goal in the game’s first minute on a bad pinch by a defenceman playing an unfamiliar position. They allowed a second not five minutes later when an innocuous point shot off a faceoff took the unfriendliest of bounces off another defender’s backside and into the net. The game wasn’t six minutes old, the Oilers were down 0-2 and they hadn’t so much as generated a shot on goal.

There was nowhere to go but up from there, but it was hard to guess how far “up” things would go. The Oilers fought back to dominate the last half of the first period to tie the score 2-2, then broke the game open with a shorthanded goal quickly followed by a another by the post-PK group. Best of all, they locked things down defensively, not allowing another goal over the last 54 minutes. An empty netter made the final margin 5-2 Edmonton.

The Oilers were full value for the win, by eye and by stat. They outshot Dallas 29-22 on the night, including a whopping 12-1 margin over the last 8 minutes of the first, with the lone Stars shot in that span coming from 171 feet. By expected goals it was 3.7 for Edmonton, 1.8 for Dallas. And by our own assessment at the Cult of Hockey, the home side held a 14-10 edge in Grade A Shots, including a resounding 7-3 in the subset of 5 alarm shots (running count). The Oil also took charge of

There was nowhere to go but up from there, but it was hard to guess how far “up” things would go. The Oilers fought back to dominate the last half of the first period to tie the score 2-2, then broke the game open with a shorthanded goal quickly followed by a another by the post-PK group. Best of all, they locked things down defensively, not allowing another goal over the last 54 minutes. An empty netter made the final margin 5-2 Edmonton.

The Oilers were full value for the win, by eye and by stat. They outshot Dallas 29-22 on the night, including a whopping 12-1 margin over the last 8 minutes of the first, with the lone Stars shot in that span coming from 171 feet. By expected goals it was 3.7 for Edmonton, 1.8 for Dallas. And by our own assessment at the Cult of Hockey, the home side held a 14-10 edge in Grade A Shots, including a resounding 7-3 in the subset of 5 alarm shots (running count). The Oil also took charge of the physical side of the game, landing 47 hits compared to 23 the other way.

the physical side of the game, landing 47 hits compared to 23 the other way.