5 Things: Oilers bringing conference final back to familiar territory

At American Airlines Center on May 25, 2024, in Dallas, Mattias Janmark (13), of the Edmonton Oilers, and Alexander Petrovic (28), of the Dallas Stars, dispute during Game 2 of the Western Conference final.

Although the Dallas Stars finished the regular season with 113 points to lead the Western Conference, the Edmonton Oilers will get home-ice advantage in the conference championship series that will soon move north for Games 3 and 4.

After losing 3-1 to the Stars at American Airlines Center on Saturday, the Oilers are knotted 1-1. Of the five possible games left, three are to be played at home at Rogers Place on Monday at 6:30 p.m. (CBC, Sportsnet).

1. TRAIL WARRIORS

The Stars have actually performed better on the road this postseason, despite the potential benefits of home-ice advantage in a long-running playoff series. And not just a tiny bit.

It is surprising that Dallas, a team that finished nearly identically in the regular season—26-11-4 at home and 26-10-5 on the road—is a poor 4-5 at home but 5-1 away in a best-of-7 scenario.

Edmonton, on the other hand, hasn’t demonstrated much of a preference during the postseason, going 4-2 at home and 5-3 away.

Dallas has only scored more than three goals in one of their nine postseason home games, but they have already done it three times away from home. They will undoubtedly want to retake the lead in the series on Monday by playing a dominant game.

2. DRAI WELL RUNS

With four cylinders in the form of Leon Draisaitl (nine goals, 16 assists for 25 points), Connor McDavid (three goals, 20 assists for 23 points), Evan Bouchard (five goals, 16 assists for 21 points), and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (four goals, 13 assists for 17 points), nobody is questioning the explosive power of Edmonton’s turbocharged offensive engine during these playoffs.

Draisaitl’s personal point streak came to an end on Saturday, as he failed to register a point for the first time in the postseason, ending at 14 games.

Sure, if you don’t include all the hits, backchecks, and shot blocking he did without the puck, he is permitted to have one off-game, but that might just be the tip of the Oilers’ iceberg.

3. CAREFUL McDAVID

However, McDavid has now been held scoreless in four of the previous seven games. And if the pattern keeps up, it would be an issue since on Monday, only one real defenseman—Evan Bouchard—had ice time longer than him—24:29.

Thankfully, Edmonton has a 4-3 record throughout this span, and on Monday, Connor McDavid set a playoff record for the quickest speed, clocking in at 23.81 mph. Thus, the velocity is present.

But in order to survive a very deep Dallas squad throughout what is turning into a best-of-5 series and secure a spot in the Stanley Cup finals, the Oilers need all of their huge offensive weapons to be on fire, ideally into the back of the net.

4. REACTION-ACTION

It might have easily been the difference between a much more humiliating defeat and one that ended with an empty net, leaving a team staring in the mirror the next morning, when Jamie Benn scored on the Stars’ opening shot of the contest.

Rather, the Oilers did not take long to react. And 44 seconds later, Connor Brown of all people scored with a rebound off of Edmonton’s second shot of the game, providing the answer from an almost unusual source.

For Brown, who had suffered greatly since moving to Edmonton and had to wait 14 games for his first point and 55 games for his first goal, it was his first playoff goal since 2018. With four goals and eight assists in 71 games to cap up his first season with the Oilers, it was his lowest total since his rookie campaign. Naturally, Minus was involved in an early-life knee injury last year.

5. Every single one for themselves

Brown is a member of the Oilers’ fourth line, which has changed right in front of our eyes throughout the postseason.

In the last few games, the trio—which also includes left wing Mattias Janmark and center Sam Carrick—has really come into their own. They have almost eliminated the Oilers’ third line in terms of both their ability to create offensive opportunities and grind out wins.

Maybe Adam Henrique, the injured striker, will soon be back in the starting lineup, which might ignite the middle six.

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