Oilers heading back to Stanley Cup Final: Game 5 grades and a look ahead

The Edmonton Oilers are headed backmost to the Stanley Cup Final for the 2nd consecutive season, eliminating the Dallas Stars with a 6-3 triumph successful Game 5 aft ousting them successful six games past play successful the Western Conference finals.

The Oilers chased Stars goalie Jake Oettinger conscionable implicit 7 minutes into the crippled with goals from Corey Petty and Mattias Janmark -- the lone 2 shots Oettinger faced. They skated backmost to the locker country aft the archetypal play with a 3-0 lead. The remainder of the game, their discourtesy answered each Dallas goal, draining their momentum, portion the Oilers antiaircraft erstwhile again stifled their hostile successful the 3rd period.

Now, it's clip to instrumentality connected the Florida Panthers again -- the squad who bushed them successful 3 consecutive games, saw Edmonton rally to propulsion the bid to 7 lone to autumn abbreviated of raising the Cup.

In the enlargement epoch (since 1967-68), determination person been 4 instances of the aforesaid 2 teams gathering successful the Stanley Cup Final successful consecutive seasons. The past clip it happened successful the NHL was from 2008 and 2009, erstwhile the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins and past the Penguins bushed Detroit successful the pursuing season, giving Sidney Crosby his archetypal Stanley Cup.

The past squad to bushed the aforesaid hostile successful the Stanley Cup Final successful consecutive seasons was the Montreal Canadiens, who bushed the Boston Bruins successful 1977 and 1978.

It's going to instrumentality a amended effort from Florida to bushed this mentation of the Oilers than the 1 that earned them the Cup past season. Edmonton has leveled up considerably since then, some successful antiaircraft acumen and playoff confidence.

Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski look backmost astatine what happened successful Game 5, on with what lies up for each franchise.

Edmonton Oilers
Grade: B+

The Oilers wasted nary clip getting down to concern successful Game 5 -- arsenic in, scoring with their archetypal changeable connected extremity erstwhile Corey Perry tallied a power-play marker little than 3 minutes into the contest. Then it was Mattias Janmark capitalizing connected a lazy enactment alteration by the Stars to treble the Oilers' full little than halfway done the archetypal period. Then it was Jeff Skinner -- scoring his archetypal vocation playoff extremity -- connected the recently inserted Casey DeSmith. Wild.

The Oilers didn't person Zach Hyman successful the lineup, and yet they hardly missed a bushed acknowledgment to their enviable extent showing up successful a hurry.

But the Stars weren't astir to spell quietly. Brett Kulak's turnover coiled up down Stuart Skinner courtesy of a Jason Robertson onslaught that chopped the Oilers pb to 3-1. Edmonton's punishment termination had to travel live successful the second, and portion the Oilers killed disconnected Kulak's sloppy hooking insignificant they couldn't bash it again erstwhile Matthias Ekholm took different infraction; Roope Hintz' tally got Dallas wrong one.

From there, it was similar a call-and-response crippled for the Oilers. Connor McDavid didn't miss connected a breakaway accidental conscionable implicit 2 minutes aft Hintz' marker. When Robertson came calling again conscionable 38 seconds into the 3rd play to marque it 4-3 Edmonton, Evander Kane had the Oilers with a two-goal cushion again conscionable implicit 2 minutes later.

The Oilers whitethorn not person played their champion crippled of the series, but the mode they recovered from each misstep showed wherefore they person been specified a unit since that Game 1 loss. Dallas' detonation of power-play goals successful that outing seemed to flip a switch, and Edmonton would not beryllium denied. -- Shilton

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Connor McDavid scores to springiness Oilers two-goal lead

Connor McDavid's extremity successful the 2nd play brings the Oilers' pb backmost up to 2 goals.

Dallas Stars
Grade: C-

The commencement earned an 'F' for Dallas, which didn't people archetypal successful immoderate crippled of this series. To bash truthful connected Thursday nighttime would person meant the Stars could exhale a small spot and springiness the Oilers thing -- thing -- to interest astir successful this series. Instead, rookie Mavrik Bourque, backmost successful the lineup for the archetypal clip since Game 4 against Colorado, took a high-sticking punishment conscionable 1:47 into the crippled and Corey Perry converted connected the powerfulness play.

Five minutes later, with his full squad sleepwalking successful beforehand of him, Jake Oettinger was beaten connected a partial interruption by Mattias Janmark. And past the franchise goalie's nighttime was abruptly implicit -- pulled 7:09 into the crippled having fixed up 2 goals connected 2 shots. A Hail Mary desperation determination by caput manager Pete DeBoer ... who watched the Oilers buzz backup Casey DeSmith until Jeff Skinner scored his archetypal playoff extremity successful his 2nd vocation playoff crippled -- aft 1,078 regular-season games -- to enactment Dallas successful a 3-0 hole.

No substance what happened aft that, this was the archetypal misdeed for Dallas successful Game 5. It's the communicative of the series: The Stars yet doing thing affirmative successful the process of trying to excavation retired of their ain grave, and often ceding momentum close back. Roope Hintz cuts the pb to 3-2 ... McDavid scores 2:01 later. Robertson, superb again, scores his 2nd of the crippled to marque it 4-3 ... Evander Kane bounces a puck disconnected Esa Lindell little than 3 minutes aboriginal to make different two-goal cushion.

The Stars overcame unthinkable obstacles to scope the Western Conference finals for a 3rd consecutive season. They eliminated the Avalanche successful 7 games portion missing some Robertson and Miro Heiskanen. They bounced the President's Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets successful six games.

The benignant speechmaking of their demise was that the Stars played good capable to triumph much than 1 game, but atrocious puck luck against a championship-level Edmonton antiaircraft effort successful beforehand of Stuart Skinner was their undoing. (And what an unthinkable third-period squad the Oilers person become.) The cynical speechmaking of their elimination is that the Dallas stars didn't radiance with the aforesaid magnitude arsenic Edmonton's, their supporting formed was outplayed and Oettinger bent the genu to Skinner earlier pulled from the series.

Either speechmaking leads to the aforesaid place: One circular abbreviated of playing for the Stanley Cup, for the 3rd consecutive twelvemonth nether DeBoer, contempt having arguably the champion postulation of endowment successful those 3 postseason runs. How the franchise reacts to this volition beryllium fascinating. -- Wyshynski

Three Stars of Game 5

1. The "hope killer" Oilers

Edmonton flew retired of the gross successful Game 5, going up 3-0 successful the archetypal period. Then, arsenic Dallas made it a one-goal game, Connor McDavid created a breakaway by out-pacing his marker and scored. After Jason Robertson scored to marque it 4-3, Evander Kane banked 1 successful disconnected of Esa Lindell to stiff-arm the Stars. Whenever Dallas had hope, Edmonton recovered a mode to dash it.

2. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl
C, Oilers

Both had 2 points successful the series-clinching Game 5 win. And some present person 3 postseasons with 25 oregon much points, tied for fourth-most successful NHL history. Only Mark Messier (6), Wayne Gretzky (6), and Jari Kurri (5) person more.

3. Jeff Skinner
F, Oilers

Game 5 was Skinner's 2nd vocation playoff game, drafting successful with Zach Hyman out. He's the lone NHL subordinate to play 1,000 NHL games earlier making his postseason debut. He scored his archetypal vocation postseason extremity to marque it 3-0 successful the archetypal period. What a moment! -- Arda Öcal

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Jeff Skinner nets Oilers' 3rd extremity of archetypal period

Jeff Skinner's extremity gives the Oilers a speedy 3-0 pb successful the archetypal period.

Big questions

How volition Zach Hyman's lack interaction Edmonton successful a Cup Final against Florida?

The Panthers play a carnal game. Hyman was (or, inactive is) the playoffs' deed person (with 111 successful 15 games). He was besides 1 of their astir productive forwards, skating alongside McDavid and contributed to some peculiar teams.

Make nary mistake, conscionable due to the fact that Edmonton cruised on without him successful Game 5 against Dallas doesn't discount the spread Hyman volition permission erstwhile the Oilers are squaring disconnected against the Panthers. Hyman had 2 goals and 4 points successful the Cup Final past year, and helium was adjacent amended production-wise successful these playoffs than last.

Kris Knoblauch enactment Skinner successful for Game 5 and that worked good enough, but volition helium stay the champion enactment for Edmonton going into Game 1 versus Florida? Especially knowing the Panthers are a antithetic benignant of squad compared to the Stars?

The Cup Final is simply a bid wherever Hyman's peculiar acceptable of skills would person been a game-changer. But helium won't beryllium available, and however the Oilers set volition beryllium captious to whether they travel distant with a antithetic effect than 12 months ago. -- Shilton

Is this the extremity for Pete DeBoer successful Dallas?

When DeBoer was hired successful 2022 to regenerate Rick Bowness, helium reportedly signed a four-year contract. He coached the Stars to 3 consecutive Western Conference finals successful his archetypal 3 seasons successful Dallas.

The sound connected DeBoer has been an inability to get his teams implicit the hump. He coached the New Jersey Devils (2012) and San Jose Sharks (2016) to the Stanley Cup Final, but failed to triumph the title successful either trip. Since 2018-19, DeBoer has mislaid successful the Western Conference last six times successful 8 years.

Again, it's hard to reason with the regular-season occurrence (.665 points percentage, his champion with immoderate of the 5 teams he's coached) oregon the information his teams person made 3 consecutive league finals. But they've bumped their heads against the ceiling 3 times.

He couldn't find a mode to unlock them successful the league last this time. His pulling of Oettinger successful the archetypal volition beryllium a taxable of debate.

The eventual question for GM Jim Nill: Is determination different manager that could get much from Dallas, oregon bash they tally it backmost with DeBoer and respective roster tweaks? -- Wyshynski