In one of the oddest games of the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Edmonton Oilers took 10 shots on goal in Game 6,
They had three in the opening stanza, scoring twice off the power play.
That was all they needed in a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final against the Panthers.
Stuart Skinner made 34 saves in the clinching win.
Connor McDavid staked the Oilers to a 1-0 lead at 4:17 of the first.
“There’s been lots of growing pains, for sure, lots of lessons, and obviously it feels great to be in this position,” McDavid said. “This was always part of the plan, and it feels good to be here today.”
He toe-dragged the puck past Miro Heiskanen for a shot that went top shelf for the 1-0 advantage with the Oilers’ first power play marker.
Zach Hyman scored off the power play at 15:42 of the first. with the second strike off the power play, on the Oilers’ third shot of the period.
He scored form the left circle with his 14th goal of the playoffs.
“We’ve closed out big games. It’s not always the prettiest, but we got it done and that’s all that really matters,” McDavid said. “I thought we gave up a couple looks coming down the stretch that we’d like to not give up, and guys were sacrificing their bodies with big blocks or ‘Stu’ making timely saves, whatever it was. We got it done and that’s all that really matters. We’ll move on from this one tonight.”
Mason Marchment scored midway through the third period. He scored after his initial shot bounced to Tyler Seguin off the backboards; Seguin’s attempted shot went to Marchment for the tap in.
“Just gutting is the only word I can feel when you lose a game like that,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “Proud of our group, proud of our fight, proud of our battle. We’re just gutted. They did leave it all out there. We should be playing for a Game 7. Have to give Edmonton credit for their power play, in particular over the last two games, was good. Their goaltending was good.”
Dallas outshot the Oilers, 14-2, in the third period.
“It’s fine lines when you get to this time of the year,” DeBoer said. “I thought we had a little bit of an off night in Game 5 and they won (3-1 on Friday), and they had a bit of an off night tonight and they still found a way to win. That’s the difference. … I don’t know what to say. Tough to swallow.”
Jake Oettinger made eight saves in the loss.
“There wasn’t a moment in this series until the buzzer just now where I thought we weren’t going to win or didn’t deserve to win or thought we could earn it and we didn’t,” Seguin said. “That’s what playoff hockey is.
“When you have those opportunities — there’s a lot of emotion right now, a lot of disappointment, but heck yeah, had a ton of fun, too. We had a blast being in these big moments, guys grinding and the ups and downs. I love this [stuff], so that was awesome.”
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