DALLAS — Three shutouts in four games.
That ought to get the hockey world off of Stu Skinner’s case for … (checks watch) … about 38 hours — until they drop the puck for Game 3 in Edmonton.
Skinner stopped 25 shots — including a Wyatt Johnston breakaway early in the third period — and the Edmonton Oilers slapped a defensive blanket on the Dallas Stars, winning 3-0 to even this Western Conference Final at one game apiece.
“As players you don’t have enough appreciation for how a goalie battles,” began Connor McDavid. “You trust he’s going to do his job back there, battle to try to see the puck, make every save he can, and he did that tonight.
“He made every save. That’s a good night for a goalie.”
Ya think?
That’s never enough for Skinner, however, in a one-horse hockey town where everybody knows that a Leon Draisaitl snipe from 20 feet out is a beauty goal, but the same shot by Mikael Granlund or Tyler Seguin is one that “has to get saved.”
Skinner, as is his history, was stellar behind a defensive environment that was excellent, rewarding his team’s structure by making all the saves he should have made — plus two of three others that you might not expect him to make.
“We had breakdowns tonight, we did give up some good chances,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “The one that I think about is the (Johnston) breakaway. Stu comes up big.
“Yes, our team had some blocked shots, and yeah, we defended well. But Stu had a lot of timely saves, especially the one at the start of the third period that allowed us to keep them off the scoreboard.”
Draisaitl tied Evan Bouchard and Jake Walman for a game-high three blocked shots, a superstar centreman who was throwing himself in front of pucks all night.
That’s how you win, and through two games of this series, the Oilers have won five of the six periods. They’ve been by far the better team at five-on-five, only imploding in Game 1, taking a raft of penalties to unleash a potent Stars power play and blow a 3-1 lead.
But absent those opportunities provided by Edmonton, the Stars have been quite clearly the second-best team in a series that now shifts to Northern Alberta for a Sunday matinee.
If you win the five-on-five game, and you also win on special teams — Edmonton had a power-play goal and went two-for-two on the penalty kill — then you’ll come out on top in almost every game you play. Even in the playoffs.
“We probably played better last game than we did this game,” said Zach Hyman, after a game-high nine hits. “Special teams is really important in the playoffs, (and) we’re probably one of the best five-on-five teams in the playoffs so far. If we can shore up the special teams, which we’re usually good at, we’ll be in a good spot.”
This was as complete a game as you’ll see a team play, with Edmonton winning all the aforementioned categories, while also out-hitting Dallas 49-28 and blocking more shots as well (17-11).
Edmonton has 33 five-on-five goals in these playoffs, second only to Florida’s 38. Dallas has 22 and has played two more games.
The Oilers have laid down several defensive masterpieces in these playoffs, games that made the L.A. Kings, the Vegas Golden Knights and now Dallas look rather pedestrian.
“Being a goalie, I’ve kind of seen the growth happen every single game, especially as the playoffs got started,” Skinner said. “I feel like every single day we’ve just improved, gotten better and better and better.
“When you look at the teams that win, they’re normally the teams that are pretty stifling defensively. And I know that we’ve been improving and we’ve getting better, because obviously we want to be that team.”
This one erupted somewhat in the third period when Darnell Nurse slashed Dallas No. 1 centreman, Roope Hintz, on the foot or lower leg. It was a relatively harmless slash — a two-minute penalty, but no more than that — until Hintz stayed down, eventually limping to the Stars locker room
He did not return to the game, and Dallas head coach Pete DeBoer wanted a major penalty called.
What did DeBoer think of the play?
“I’ll answer your question with a question,” he replied. “Does anyone in this room think if Connor McDavid gets carried off the ice like that, it’s not a five-minute major? That’s my answer to your question.”
If Hintz is indeed hurt, it’s a major loss for Dallas, something that will become clear on Sunday at 1 p.m. Mountain when the puck drops at Rogers Place.
They say a series doesn’t get started until the road team wins a game.
The Oilers got their split on the road.
Now it’s Dallas’ turn to take this series back, a series they haven’t had a very big bite of — despite the fact it stands at one game apiece.
