Edmonton Oilers Secure First Double OT Win in NHL Playoffs

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00:00 to help us make sense of it all. Anna Dua from the NHL joins us live right here on this Friday

00:06 on the Early Line. Anna, thank you as always for taking the time to be here on this Friday.

00:10 Thanks for having me.

00:12 Game number one last night, Anna. In Dallas, the Stars and their now three series in this

00:18 Stanley Cup postseason run have had home ice advantage to start a series and refused to win

00:25 a game at home. Last night, though, a tough test into double overtime. Edmonton wins 3-2,

00:32 just about a half minute into that second OT session. Connor McDavid nets the game winner

00:38 for the Oilers as Edmonton wins game one as a slight road underdog 3-2. Anna,

00:43 what was your main takeaway from the opening game of the Western Conference Finals?

00:47 Edmonton really impressed me the way they were able to rally because, to be honest,

00:53 I was doubting them a little bit after their series against the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks

00:57 were a batter team. They didn't have Thatcher Demko. They lost Brock Besser towards the end

01:00 of that series. And Edmonton barely got out of that. I thought they should have had a little

01:04 bit more of a dominant performance, whereas Dallas, I thought, looked really good heading

01:08 into the Western Conference Final. But yesterday, Edmonton managed to stick around. Dallas had a

01:13 great start to the game, and Edmonton found their way back. So that's just one of those situations

01:18 where I feel like the Oilers really showcased that they are a team that could be a Stanley Cup

01:24 contender. And it was close, guys. Honestly, I know the score sheet doesn't reflect it,

01:29 but Dallas had a lot of great looks, and Stuart Skinner made a lot of great saves.

01:32 Yeah, that's always the interesting part with Edmonton for me, is you take a look at the

01:36 goaltending situation. If you can get quality goaltending, they are a really tough team. And

01:41 as we move forward in the series, you see it in the pricing. Edmonton wrestles back

01:44 home ice advantage at now a minus 200 price. Moving forward in the season,

01:49 is there any panic in Dallas? As Ben pointed out, they're used to being in this spot.

01:53 Yeah, I think there's a little bit more panic in terms of the Eastern Conference Final,

01:57 with the Rangers dropping their first game, whereas Dallas just can't win to start off

02:02 a series. But that means they're a great comeback team, for sure. I think a lot of people were down

02:06 and out on them in Vegas, and Dallas found a way to rally there. So I wouldn't be too worried. The

02:11 one big thing though, is in the Stanley Cup playoffs, losing a double OT game is really

02:17 hard to come back from, because everyone's tired. They've had a long season. They played so much

02:21 hockey to get to this point. You don't want to unnecessarily play that much extra hockey,

02:26 and then end up not even getting a win there. Yeah, it is really disappointing for Dallas.

02:31 But to Anna's point, they dropped the first two games of their opening round series at home to

02:36 the Vegas Golden Knights, and responded with two victories in Vegas. So they're comfortable,

02:42 but not in the best position, now being down 0-1 after losing game one at home. So Anna,

02:48 when you look at the Western Conference Finals overall, does Edmonton taking game one on the road

02:54 change your outlook for the series overall? I had Dallas in six heading into the series.

03:01 I think this series definitely goes six or seven. I really do think after that game,

03:05 it can kind of go either way. As I said earlier, the big question mark for me with Edmonton was

03:09 Stuart Skinner. I thought Jake Onger was the significantly better goalie in this matchup.

03:14 And yesterday, Stuart Skinner was a big reason why the Edmonton Oilers were able to come out

03:19 here with a win. Dallas allowed two goals. They let Dallas score two goals, and it didn't rattle

03:24 him that much. But in that OT period, the Stars had a lot of good looks. Connor McDavid took a

03:29 double minor to kick things off. And Edmonton being able to kill that off, and Stuart Skinner

03:34 holding down the four, that was my biggest question mark. He kind of proved himself there.

03:38 Probably the best game I've seen him play and the confidence he's going to have for the rest

03:41 of the series, maybe. Edmonton actually comes out, so I might be changing my prediction just a tad.

03:46 Let's take a look at those Canadian teams in the NHL, three of which missed the playoffs.

03:50 The Montreal Canadiens, the Ottawa Senators, and the Calgary Flames. The Maple Leafs lost in round

03:54 one along with the Winnipeg Jets. Round number two, it was the Canucks. So still left now with

03:59 a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals is the Edmonton Oilers. We haven't seen a Canadian team

04:04 win a Stanley Cup since Patrick Law and the Montreal Canadiens. Could this be the year, Anna,

04:09 that we see a Canadian team lift the Stanley Cup? I mean, I don't want to jinx it. I've never seen

04:15 a Canadian team win the Stanley Cup in my lifetime. So it would be great to see the Cup come

04:19 back north of the border. But Edmonton's been having the storyline for the last couple of seasons.

04:24 I truly think any of the four teams left could seriously win the Stanley Cup. This year,

04:28 we're seeing four very, very strong teams left standing in the NHL. Florida had a great start

04:34 against New York, but we know that the Rangers can really rack up those goals and come back into the

04:38 series in game two. Edmonton proved themselves in game one, but once again, that was a double

04:43 OT win against Dallas. Could have gone either way. So Dallas is right up there, too. I really can't

04:49 say, like, truly you can make a case for any of these four teams. It's hard to even pick a favorite.

04:54 Anna, as a native of the great white north, as a native of Toronto, are you rooting for Edmonton,

05:01 Canada's last chance to win Lord Stanley's Cup? Oh, man, I keep getting this question. We're doing

05:07 a conference final show right now for the NHL, which airs during every single game of the

05:10 conference finals. And I swear to God, I was asked this four different times last night during this

05:15 Edmonton-Dallas game. A lot of people disagree with me. This is just my take. I root for any

05:20 Canadian team. And a lot of people in Toronto are going to be really angry that I said that. But

05:24 you know, I want to come back to Canada. I want to see it just up north of the border. And also,

05:29 I root for a lot of Canadian players. Connor McDavid is from very, very close to me. So

05:34 I'm rooting for him as well. So I take a look at where all those guys are from the roster,

05:37 because that's where the Cubs spending time in the summer.

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