What was different in Dallas on Friday night was the team breaking out on top, stayed on top for the win.
The Edmonton Oilers took a 3-0 lead after the first 40 minutes of Game 5, and held on for a 3-1 win, and a 3-2 series lead headed home for Game 6 on Sunday.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins hit for a double in the game, both goals coming on the power play..
“He gets asked to do so much on this team, whether it’s on the kill, big draws on the kill, he’s got a big responsibility on the power play,” Edmonton’s Connor McDavid said. “He’s asked to do everything and always delivers, and tonight was big. He was awesome.”
Nugent-Hopkins potted his first at 14:09 of the opening stanza for a 1-0 lead to the Oilers. He scored off a rebound with a backhand.
“He is one of the best two-way players in the League,” Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner said. “It’s pretty remarkable what this guy does, his work ethic day in and day out. But I’m more impressed with just the type of person that he is. When he’s off the ice, the type of leader that he is. As a young guy, he was obviously my favorite player growing up, and being able to play with him, I’ve learned that there’s a lot more to him than just hockey. That’s one of the coolest things I’ve been able to watch and become great friends with this guy.”
Nugent-Hopkins picked up his double in the middle frame, scoring 66 seconds gone in the frame for the 2-0 lead. He scored off a wrister from the high slot.
“It looks like we were on our heels a little too much,” Dallas’ Matt Duchene said. “Sometimes when you want something so bad, you want to try and be too perfect. We’ve been in this situation before. We’ve had a Game 7 already (a 2-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round). This team we’re playing has had the same situation that we’re going into right now (trailing its second-round series against the Vancouver Canucks 3-2). This team, we’re never out of it. We’ve got a great hockey team and a lot of character in this room, and there will be no quit.”
Skinner made 19 saves in the win.
Philip Broberg extended the Oilers advantage to 3-0 at 5:09 of the second period.
Wyatt Johnston closed the gap to 3- 1 at 14:09 of the third period, scoring off a deflection of a point shot from Thomas Harley.
“They’ve done a good job these last two games. I don’t think we’ve done our best,” Johnston said. “All that matters is making sure we’re ready to go next game. We have the confidence that if we can play our best game, we can beat anyone. It’s just a matter of us doing that next game, putting our best game on the ice and having that desperation level. We have that confidence to do that.”
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Jake Oettinger made 23 saves in the loss.
“This is the fun part,” Dallas forward Tyler Seguin said “What do you have to lose here? We’ve taken pride in how we’ve been on the road all year, so let’s do it.”
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