Oilers don’t need to dominate games to win them

The Edmonton Oilers had an excellent showing in Game 3 with a 6-1 win to take a 2-1 series lead on the Dallas Stars. But while the score would indicate that it was a dominant performance from the Oilers, it was actually the Stars that played better for most of the game. But that didn’t matter, because the Oilers held down the fort and capitalized on their chances when they presented themselves.

Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton talked about the Oilers and how they’ve proven to be able to get by in some games for a victory on Daily Faceoff Live.

Tyler Yaremchuk: A lot of people are like, “Not fair. How does Dallas play that well and lose the game 6-1?” And they were at times, that second period was all Stars. They score a goal and you’re thinking, “okay, it’s 2-1 heading into the third. It’s going to be a tight hockey game,” and then McDavid scores with 20 seconds left.

But you can sit there and look at whatever expected goals model, blah, blah, blah. Yes, I’m fully saying the Stars were the better team at 5v5 in that hockey game. But it’s also a lesson in what makes this Oilers team dangerous. You can play as well as Dallas did, but then you give up a 3-on-1 to Connor McDavid and the top line of the Oilers. Bang, they burn you. You give McDavid a little bit too much space at the end of the second period. Bang, he burns you. Zach Hyman catches the Stars snoozing a little bit or pushing for offense. Bang, they burn you.

They don’t need 40 shots to score six goals. They can get outplayed for 15 minutes, bend, bend, don’t break, and then boom, their first chance back the other way, they kill you.

Carter Hutton: And it just shows you the offensive firepower they have.

I think there’s a confidence now in Skinner too. I feel like I’ve seen this firsthand, and I’ve dealt with it as a goalie, and seeing it around the NHL, where when your goalie isn’t making a timely save here or there, you start to kind of collapse a little bit. I feel like we’re seeing that on the other side of it right now, where Jake Oettinger just hasn’t been able to make that timely save when there has been an odd man rush, and there has been chances.

It’s going to be very hard to hold this Edmonton team back with the firepower they have, how they can spread the rink out, how they’re aggressive on turnovers, and it’s been fun to watch. There’s still a big challenge and I think there’s gonna be a push, but right now I think this Edmonton team is heading in the right direction.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Yeah, there seems to be a lot of people who are already talking about a Stanley Cup Final rematch, and it’s like, whoa. You can say that about the Florida Panthers, they’re up 3-0. Edmonton’s only up 2-1. This series could still have a much, much different feel after Game 4 in Edmonton. The swing game, they call it.

You can watch the full episode here…