The one that got away: Oilers PK loses game one

“Our five-on-five play’s been good, but our special teams and our goaltending have been exceptional.”

That’s what Peter DeBoer had to say three days before his group of Dallas Stars steam rolled the Edmonton Oilers through five unanswered third period goals (three on the power play, one five-on-five, and an empty netter).

40 minutes into game one though, and the Oilers were up 2-1, 50 per cent on their power play and 100 per cent on their penalty kill, compared to a 0/1 Dallas power play and 1/2 penalty kill.

It was a stunning comeback for the Stars marked by a “red hot power play,” per DeBoer, aided by 50 per cent of the Oilers’ penalties in one period.

Talk about letting something slip out of your hands.

“The momentum obviously shifted after that first (penalty). And the first half of that penalty at the end of the second period, I thought we did a good job of killing it,” explained Kris Knoblauch post-game. “(Then) they get that one shot through that ends up being a goal and that obviously changes their momentum.

“They feel better about their game. They see that they’re only chasing by one and then again, another penalty which we can’t kill.”

That might as well have been the story of the game: “another penalty which we can’t kill.”

It’s been one of many for the Oilers actually.

The loudest, proudest, and most abundant until now, had belonged to their third period comebacks that won them consecutive playoff games in rounds one and two.

If only such a result carried over into round three.

However…

“We were short handed for about six minutes of the third period, that makes it difficult to come back,” argued Knoblauch.

Perhaps.

But so does giving up control of the play, making costly mistakes, and losing (or handing over) all sense of urgency after the second. Gone were the opportunistic shots on goal from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, rushes through the O-zone from Connor McDavid, and pure desperation from Troy Stecher and Zach Hyman.

Oh, and don’t forget about some Junior level goaltending from Stuart Skinner, who forgot himself that the penalty kill starts in net.

Instead, welcome Stars’ Tyler Seguin who said it perfectly:

“You can’t just try to respond next game, (you’ve) got to respond right now.”

A message that the Oilers could, and should use as they try to do something they haven’t done in the first two games of this years playoffs — settle for the split.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” according to Skinner. “You just can’t be (giving up power play goals), especially at playoff time against a team like this. They know how to score goals.

“They were coming out hot, momentum kind of shifted for them in that moment.”

What’s more, and slightly positive.

“Our five-on-five game was really good. We (just) gotta use it more,” continued Darnell Nurse on areas of the game he felt confident in. “The last couple series, when we buckled down, stayed out of the box and kept the game at five-on-five, we played to the strength of our team.

“With that being said, when the PK gets out there, we gotta step it up and make plays.”

Simple enough.

Cut down on the same lackluster penalty kill that had Connor Brown saying, “we were getting embarrassed” post special team efforts in games one and two games against the Los Angeles Kings.

Or, don’t take another penalty — said slightly (entirely) sarcastically.

Of course the Oilers could always hang their head in shame now, forget that there’s a lot of hockey yet to be played, and that one “humbling” experience, as Knoblauch would put it, does not a series make.

Four humbling experiences? Yes. But it’s a tad too early to start writing the post mortem just yet.

Check in later.

Place bets now.

Wait till Brown relays the same special teams turn around that won round one, in round three — said hopefully.

“We’re very disappointed. After the first two periods we felt it was a good start and it just turned in the third period,” added Knoblauch. “So, we’re just going to have to put this one behind us and move on.

“We’ve had some heartbreaking loses in the playoffs and we’ve been able to rebound nicely and not worry to much about it.”