Connor Brown scored after getting hit in the mouth by a skate, Stuart Skinner made 25 saves for his third shutout of the postseason and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Dallas Stars 3-0 in Game 2 on Friday night to even the Western Conference Final.
Brown put the Oilers up 3-0 with 4:37 left in the second period, connecting 1:13 after defenceman Brett Kulak’s deflection for his first goal in 36 games since Feb. 27.
It was early in the second period when officials stopped play with Brown bleeding after taking the toe of Mikael Granlund’s skate when the Stars forward fell down by him near the boards.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had another power-play goal for the Oilers, who go home for Game 3 on Sunday after avoiding an 0-2 start on the road for the second time this postseason.
The Edmonton Oilers are now Canada’s last hope in the Stanley Cup playoffs. As other teams bow out, fans across the country are jumping on the Oilers bandwagon.
Skinner has four career playoff shutouts, three of which have come in the past four games. He closed out the second round with consecutive shutouts against Vegas.
Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger stopped 22 shots.
Stars forward Roope Hintz left the ice without putting any weight on his left leg after Edmonton defender Darnell Nurse slashed him on top of his left skate early in the third. Hintz went down to the ice in front of the Edmonton net, and immediately reached toward his foot. Nurse was given a minor penalty for slashing after officials reviewed for a potential major penalty.
Nugent-Hopkins, who also had the primary assist on Brown’s goal, put the Oilers ahead to stay 5:51 into the game, when he tipped in an Evan Bouchard shot from above the right circle that was wobbling toward the net after going off the stick of Hintz. Edmonton had the man advantage after a boarding penalty against Granlund.
It was the second game in a row that Nugent-Hopkins had a power-play goal.
Leon Draisaitl had the secondary assist on that goal, and Connor McDavid had a helper on Kulak’s goal. The assists pushed Draisaitl and McDavid, 100-point scorers during the regular season, to 20 points in these playoffs — matching Stars forward Mikko Rantanen for the league high.
It is the fourth 20-point postseason in a row for McDavid, matching the longest stretch in NHL history with Sergei Fedorov (1995-1998), Bryan Trottier (1980-1983) and Mike Bossy (1980-1983). Draisaitl hit the 20-point mark for the second year in a row.
Friday’s victory marks a bounceback for Edmonton, who lost Game 1 after allowing five goals in the third period.
The best-of-seven series now shifts to Edmonton for two games at Rogers Place, where the Oilers are 4-1 so far in the playoffs.
Game 3 between the Oilers and Stars is Sunday.
