Oilers Run Out of Gas in Dallas

The Edmonton Oilers dropped a 5-3 decision to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night. It was a barn-burner that saw each team scoring in short bursts but ultimately it was the Stars who got the last punch in late in the third.

Kailer Yamamoto, Evander Kane, and Leon Draisaitl got the goals for Edmonton.

First Period:

Edmonton was the team with the early jump off the opening draw. The top line of Evander Kane, Connor McDavid, and Kailer Yamamoto was especially dangerous early on. Yamamoto gave McDavid an open net feed in-tight that was whiffed on in the early goings. Kane then fed Yamamoto for a clean one-timer from the slot later on that caught iron.

Jesse Puljujarvi had another glorious chance for the Oilers on a 2-on-1 but his shot missed the net. The early pressure failed to yield a lead and it actually led to a penalty against them as Duncan Keith tripped up an attacking John Klingberg after a lengthy offensive shift for the Oilers. Luckily, they would kill it off to keep their momentum going.

Kailer Yamamoto finally found the back of the net with about 3 minutes remaining in the period. He tipped a bomb from Evan Bouchard that beat Jake Oettinger. Oilers with the 1-0 lead.

That’s how it would end as Edmonton was trying to stay perfect when scoring first.

Second Period:

Oilers kept the pedal to the metal to start off the second. The first few shifts were almost exclusively in the Stars' end as the top two lines were finding ways to keep plays alive. It would pay off in the form of a hooking call on the Stars to send Edmonton to their first powerplay of the game.

They wouldn’t be able to extend their lead but Brad Malone came close after the fact, wiring a snapshot off the crossbar. That missed chance would come back to haunt the Oilers as Jason Robertson beat Mikko Koskinen five-hole to knot things up. 1-1 game at the halfway mark of the game.

Darnell Nurse would then take a retaliatory penalty following a hit on Puljujarvi to put the Stars on the PP and things would get worse for Edmonton. Joe Pavelski knocked in a rebound to take their first lead of the game. Two goals in a 1:20 and it’s a brand new game.

Edmonton seemed to enter some sort of shock after losing the lead. Dallas completely took over the game as the Oilers broke down in the defensive zone multiple times, forcing Koskinen to make about three ten-bell saves to keep the team in it. If Edmonton was going to come back in this one, they should be thanking their goaltender.

They weren’t doing themselves any favours, however, heading back to the penalty-kill after Zack Kassian caught Radek Faksa with a late hit. No further harm was done.

Edmonton was able to get another chance with the man-advantage in the final minute of the period but wasn’t able to convert. Oilers had to score at least once in the third if they wanted some points.

Third Period:

Edmonton started the third with just under a minute of PP time left on the board but couldn’t convert. It was actually quite a decent start for the Oil as they were starting to get back to there from before the Dallas goals. It was going a little too good it seems as Devin Shore took a lazy penalty to send Edmonton back to the PK.

But wait! Connor McDavid and Evander Kane combined on a rush to tie things right back up with Kane’s 14th of the year. A shorthanded marker and this one is 2-2. That wasn’t all as the Oilers were able to find Shore bursting out of the penalty box who found Leon Draisaitl on an odd-man rush. The puck hit Draisaitl’s skate but it was actually Ryan Suter who popped it into his own net. 3-2 Oilers all of a sudden.

That wasn’t quite enough to put this one away as Roope Hintz was able to split the Oilers D and slide a breakaway shot through the legs of Koskinen. 3-3 game. Goals were coming in pairs tonight as Tyler Seguin fed Denis Gurianov on a 2-on-1 to allow Dallas to regain the lead at 4-3 with under five minutes left in regulation.

Stars would ice it with an empty-netter in the final seconds.

5-3 final for Dallas.

Takeaways:

• Mikko Koskinen had a very strange game. He was absolutely fantastic for large portions of it and I can’t really blame him on the last two goals of the game. It would have been nice if he got the first two. I don’t think it’s cause for panic, however. He’s earned the benefit of the doubt.
• Special teams have to improve, both of them. The PK let up one once again and the PP was not able to give the team insurance down the stretch which ended up costing them. Woodcroft has helped the team at 5-on-5 and you hope he can rekindle some success on those units heading into the playoffs.
• Puljujarvi had a rebound game and thought he was impactful on the ice. He did pass up a few very nice shooting opportunities that you hope he would put on the net.
• Yamo stays hot...I liked him once again.
• We can only hope Brett Kulak can steady up their defensive play. When Edmonton broke down they broke down BIG TIME. It’s simply not good enough.
• The Oilers drop their second straight to end their two-game road trip 0-1-1 and stay static at 75 points. If LA wins tonight it’ll put them three up on the Oilers, the good news is Vegas also lost tonight to remain at 72. A huge few points are up for grabs on Thursday when the Oilers return home to take on the San Jose Sharks.