For the Edmonton Oilers, the journey from worst to first in the Western Conference is complete, and a chance at the Stanley Cup is their reward.
Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist in the opening period to get Edmonton going, Stuart Skinner stopped 34 shots for his hometown team and the Oilers capped an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final by beating the Dallas Stars 2-1 on Sunday night.
Zach Hyman also scored — like McDavid, on a first-period power play — and Evan Bouchard had two assists for the Oilers, who won the Western Conference final in six games and are to play for the Cup for the first time since 2006.
Photo: AFP
They are heading to the Florida Pantehrs for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final which starts on Saturday night. At 4,088km between Edmonton and Sunrise, Florida, it is the longest distance between Stanley Cup Final opponents in NHL history.
“When the horn went off, that’s the loudest I ever heard it,” McDavid told Sportsnet amid the on-ice post-game celebration as Edmonton fans chanted “We want the Cup.”
“Special place to play, honestly. So much history, and these fans, it was great to hear their support,” McDavid said.
Mason Marchment scored midway through the third period and Jake Oettinger stopped eight shots for the Stars, who finished the regular season with the second-best record in the NHL — 113 points, just one behind the New York Rangers in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy.
However, the Stars, just like the Rangers, let a 2-1 lead in the conference finals get away. Dallas scored five goals in Game 3 to take the series lead, and the Stars managed four goals, total, in the next three games.
“I would probably argue that was our best game of the series,” Stars forward Jamie Benn said. “Didn’t go our way.”
Oettinger went to the bench with about two minutes, 20 seconds to go, but the Stars got only two shots the rest of the way, their desperate tries to tie the game and extend the series coming up short.
“Proud of our group, proud of our fight, proud of our battle,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. “You’re just gutted. They did leave everything out there. We should be going to play a Game 7, we’re not. You have to give Edmonton credit. Their power play particularly over the last two games was good, their goaltender was good. It’s fine lines when you get to this point of the year, and they were on the right side of it... It’s tough to swallow.”
Just by getting to the Cup final, Edmonton have done something truly extraordinary — making the title series after finding themselves 10 points out of a playoff spot during the regular season. Entering games on Nov. 24 last year, the Oilers were 5-12-1, 10 points behind the Seattle Seattle Kraken and the St Louis Blues for the final wild-card spot in the West and 19 points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the top spot in the conference.
Those days are long forgotten now.
That’s when the Oilers went on an eight-game winning streak and began the long climb out of the NHL’s basement.
Now, the final awaits. Much like the Panthers on Saturday night, the Oilers did not touch the conference championship trophy in the post-game celebration. It is the bigger trophy that they’re seeking.
“We’re not done here. This is just one step in the right direction for us,” Edmonton’s Mattias Ekholm said.
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