The Edmonton Oilers got back into the Western Conference finals with a 3-0 win over the Dallas Stars on Friday, evening the series at a game apiece.
While the Stars’ side was peppered with postgame questions about the slash against Roope Hintz, the Oilers mostly took questions around the performance of goalie Stuart Skinner, who shut down 25 shots on goal from Dallas en route to his third shutout win in Edmonton’s last four games.
See what the Oilers had to say after Game 2 below.
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch
On the defensive game on Friday compared to Game 1:
“The biggest one tonight is the penalty kill. We gave up three goals and then in the third period we were chasing and had to cheat a little bit. [Dallas] got a goal midway through the third period. It was us absolutely forcing something that was not there. Tonight, we were playing with the lead the whole time and didn’t have to force anything. I don’t know if we had to check any better, but I did notice the amount of battles we won and number of blocked shots. That’s determination and knowing how important the game was tonight. The guys felt that and put in a great effort.”
On eliminating mistakes:
“It’s important no matter what team you have. Whether you have a team full of stars or third and fourth liners. You have to play the game with simplicity and hard work. Maybe, there’s some fans here that complain once, but the game comes down to just executing simple plays over and over again. Dump and chase, board checks, all the things, important things that don’t end up on the highlights. For any team to be successful you have to do it continuously. I think a lot of the guys are bought in.”
Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner
On Edmonton’s performance throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs:
“I mean from my perspective, obviously being a goalie, you’ve kind of seen the growth happen every single game, especially as playoffs got started here. I feel like every single game we’ve just improved and have gotten better and better and better. When you look at the teams that win, they’re normally the teams that are pretty stifling defensively and I know that we’ve been improving and getting better, because obviously we want to be that team, so we’ve done a heck of a job. It’s pretty special when you’ve seen the guys battling as hard as they do, blocking shots, the little things. You know, again, it’s hard to not make mistakes but when we do, we got a lot of support so it’s good. We’re definitely on the right track.”
On the series so far:
“Two good games by both teams. I think it’s a 1-1 series, win some, lose some, more games to be played.
Oilers Forward Connor McDavid
On getting the shutout victory tonight:
“We’re a different team than we have been in years past. Probably not running behind as we have been in years past, as you just said, but we just kept playing defense, Stu was great, couple breakdowns there that I didn’t like, especially in the third period, but it was great.”
On staying focused in the Stanley Cup Playoffs:
“The forwards are coming back really hard, blocking shots, it’s that time of year. That’s what it takes and that’s been fun to watch.”
