Edmonton Oilers Clinch Western Conference Crown Again

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00:00They're the Oilers victorious on road ice in Big D with a 6-3 victory in game number five.

00:07Chris, in game number one, the Lone Stars victory in this series,

00:11they scored five unanswered goals in the third period.

00:14But in the four consecutive victories for Edmonton,

00:17a plus 14 goal differential outscoring the Stars 19-5.

00:23What was the key for the Oilers to win the Western Conference crown once again?

00:27I'll start with goaltending, which was really the biggest surprise for me in this series.

00:32And that's why I gave Dallas the edge and Jake Ottinger,

00:34who got pulled a short leash last night from Pete DeBoer, yanking him after two goals.

00:38But Stuart Skinner, you know, when he came in for an injured Calvin Pickard

00:43in the second round against the Vegas Golden Knights, you know,

00:46his game really turned around and he only allowed five goals in the final four games of the series.

00:51Dallas got nothing at 5-5 in this series, like absolutely nothing.

00:55And you look last night in a must-win situation at home with all the fans there.

01:01They had 14 shots at 5-5.

01:04They had four shots at 5-5 in the second period,

01:06and they had four shots in the third period at 5-5 as well.

01:08They got the early goal from Jason Robertson.

01:10He was the only guy that really showed up for the Stars in this series.

01:14So, yeah, I want to give some credit to the Edmonton Oilers.

01:17Conor McDavid did his thing, nine points.

01:19He had that unreal breakaway goal.

01:21He's got 33 speed bursts of over 22 miles per hour, 19 more than the next closest guy in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

01:28He's a freak.

01:29Leon Dreissel had nine points, but also secondary scoring.

01:32Ryan Nugent Hopkins, nine points.

01:34Corey Perry scored last night, two goals for the 40-year-old in the series.

01:37Kane, four points.

01:39Jeff Skinner steps in for an injured Zach Hyman.

01:41He scored a goal last night.

01:42So, I look at the Dallas Stars players, and I see the 5-5 play.

01:46The Stars had more scoring chances, high danger chances, shot attempts in the series,

01:50but Edmonton had 13 goals at 5-5, and the Stars only had five.

01:53Matt Duchesne, one goal in 18 games in the playoffs.

01:56Mason Marchment, one goal in 18 games in the playoffs.

01:58So, yes, the big boys showed up for Edmonton.

02:00They got great goaltending from Skinner, but up and down their lineup,

02:04they just had more depth, and it really showed at 5-5.

02:08You take a look here, Chris, on the seasonal statistics for Edmonton,

02:12like, and even the past couple years, they're a fun brand of hockey.

02:15They play a lot of overs, and it's like, okay, if we get some good goaltending,

02:18maybe we can make a run to this thing.

02:20But as you take a look at the last two games against the Golden Knights,

02:22back-to-back shutouts, outside of game number one against the Stars,

02:25where they lost 6-3, 3-0, 6-1, 4-1, before giving up three goals last night.

02:30Is this something that we can anticipate moving forward, saying, you know what?

02:34If Edmonton gets really good defense and really good goaltending,

02:36along with that offense, boy, oh, boy, it sounds like maybe we are bringing back

02:40a Stanley Cup to Canada finally.

02:43Yeah, it certainly could happen.

02:44And again, I'll go to Stuart Skinner.

02:46He basically has to be perfect.

02:48I mean, we know what the Florida Panthers can bring to the table.

02:50This is the third straight season that we're playing in the Stanley Cup Finals.

02:53The last time we chatted, I do believe I talk about having them

02:56in the Finals one more time.

02:58And last year, you know, you look at the seven-game series,

03:01there were a couple games where there was some high-powered offensive attacks,

03:04especially from Edmonton.

03:06I look at games 4, 5, and 6.

03:08Actually, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

03:09They always had 19 goals and only gave up seven.

03:12But the under-hit four of the seven games in the series,

03:15it was tight checking.

03:17And that's the same sort of deal Florida plays.

03:19A tight-checking style of hockey of 5-5.

03:22They don't give up a whole lot.

03:23And when these two teams played last year, it was very, very similar.

03:27I mean, I was looking at it again this morning,

03:29and I couldn't believe how similar it was between the two teams

03:32in terms of just 5-5 play, the shot attempts, the scoring chances,

03:36basically even.

03:38I think at 5-5, the Panthers had one more shot

03:41and two more high-danger chances.

03:42So the goals were even at 5-5, 14 apiece.

03:45So I think it's going to be a tight-checking series.

03:48Obviously, Donny, there's a lot of offensive firepower on both sides,

03:51but both goalies are playing good.

03:53Roboski's playing just as good as Skinner over the past couple of rounds.

03:57And so I think, you know, there's a potential for high-scoring games,

04:01but I do believe we'll see some tight-checking.

04:02And that's something I took away as well from last night and the series,

04:06not so much against Vegas, but in particular against Dallas,

04:09because I thought that they were one of the deepest teams in the league

04:12and just so tight-checking.

04:14You mentioned the goals against.

04:16It's Skinner, and it's the style and brand that the Oilers are playing

04:19because we're used to seeing them have to beat you by scoring six or seven goals,

04:23and that's just not the case this time around.

04:25So I think it's a good thing.

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