Final: Dallas 4, Edmonton 1

The Edmonton Oilers took on the Dallas Stars tonight, coming off their Saturday night victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Maybe the biggest story of the day was Connor McDavid’s Architectural Digest feature. His house was wild, so I recommend giving it a looksie.

Edmonton Oilers lineup in Dallas:

Hyman - McDavid - Puljujarvi
RNH - Draisaitl - Yamamoto
Foegele - McLeod - Kassian
Perlini - Ryan - Sceviour

Keith - Bouchard
Broberg - Ceci
Russell - Barrie

Skinner

Dallas will counter with:

Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Raffl-Benn-Gurianov
Kiviranta-Seguin-Glendening
Peterson-Faksa-Radulov

Lindell-Heiskanen
Suter-Klingberg
Sekera-Hakanpaa

Oettinger

Luckily, the Oilers are a great road team who do in fact score MANY goals on the road. Dallas has struggled this season, and Edmonton should have a good opportunity to start their three game trip on a hot start. The Oilers and Stars have split their last 6 meetings, and 4 of those matchups have gone to overtime.

First Period

Very little room to open up this game, and slow players have been easily noticeable. Duncan Keith, the veteran, stops his moving his feet in a corner battle and unfortunately picked up a tripping penalty. The Oilers second-ranked penalty kill doesn’t get the job done after Bouchard and Broberg aren’t able to clear the puck or the front of the net. Learning opportunity for the young Oilers, and Radulov puts Dallas up 1-0.

Following the powerplay goal against, the Oilers couldn’t get any pressure or shots. The sloppiness continued, and Edmonton took a too many men penalty as a result. Dallas made quick work, and that’s two PPGs against after the Stars put on a clinic to score another. 2-0.

To close the period, Raffl is stopped point blank by Stuart Skinner on a breakaway. You’ll notice the notes only show Dallas highlights – that’s what watching was like too.

Second Period

The Oilers continue to struggle early in the second, with their only notable highlight a big hit on Hakanpaa from Kassian (who ended up taking the worst of it).

Stuart Skinner remains hot to start the year, and he makes an incredible save on a 2 on 1, once again on Raffl. The save seemed to give Edmonton some life, who began to pour on the pressure following the huge stop. McDavid played back to back to back shifts on the first and fourth lines, hoping to get something sparked.

The referees unfortunately have missed quite a few calls on the Dallas Stars, but won’t miss a thing on Edmonton. Philip Broberg gets tagged for a errant stick hitting Jamie Benn up high. The Oilers kill the penalty, but then Gurianov blows by every single Oilers player and slides one by Skinner. 3-0 for Dallas, and Barrie and Ceci are caught flat-footed.

A minute later, Draisaitl finds McLeod on a 2 on 1 and the rookie elevates it in tight. 3-1 Dallas.

However, Leon Draisaitl is off to the box for crosschecking after retaliating to Esa Lindell’s original check to the back of the head. Alas, the NHL. The refs call a soft make-up call on the Stars to ease their bias up. No luck for either team. Before the end of the period, Draisaitl is called again. This time for a trip, which is a deeply mysterious call...

Third Period

Broadcaster note: Duncan Keith will not return with an upper-body injury.

Midway through, Glendening tips an errant Ryan Suter shot past Skinner. 4-1 Dallas. Warm up the PJ, let’s get going to Glendale. Wrap it up. Oilers with only 2 shots in the third to this point.

Frankly, the Oilers were awful tonight. McDavid’s 25 game point streak comes to an end. Tomorrow we take on the Coyotes, but yikes at our defense. Godspeed.

On the up and up: McLeod, Foegele

Frustrated: McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman

Getting worse: Everyone else