Heika’s Take: Road woes continue as Stars fall in lopsided loss at Edmonton

The Stars once again played a pretty good game on Sunday.

But that didn’t matter in a 6-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place. Dallas is now down 2-1 in the best-of-seven series with Game 4 on Tuesday in Edmonton. Should Dallas lose on the road again, it will be fighting a mighty uphill battle while trying to win the Western Conference Final.

“We don’t have to win three games in this building,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “We’ve got to win one.”

And that is a great sentiment after a game in which Dallas dominated, statistically speaking. The Stars had a 34-24 advantage in shots on goal and dominated the second period with a 21-7 advantage. However, Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner was outstanding and the Stars exited the second frame down 3-1 after Connor McDavid scored with 19 seconds left. It was a huge performance by two of Edmonton’s best players and it added to the frustration the Stars were feeling.

“I think Skinner was the difference-maker,” said Stars forward Mikko Rantanen. “He was the MVP of the match, I would say.”

Every time Dallas seemed to have a challenge that could give them control, something went wrong. Dallas was good at the start of the game, but the Oilers scored two goals in 36 seconds after the officials seemingly missed a delay of game penalty on Edmonton. Evan Bouchard was able to snake a shot in from the blue line 14 minutes into the game, and then McDavid tallied in transition to make it 2-0. The center started and finished the breakout, showing why he’s considered the best player in the world.

Dallas now has allowed the first goal in 13 of 16 playoff games, and that is not a strategy for victory.

The problem is the Stars typically respond well after they are behind. Dallas dominated the second period and made it 2-1 when Jason Robertson had a Lian Bichsel shot deflect off of him and into the net for his first goal of the playoffs. The Stars looked to be in great shape as the second drew to a close and were dangerously close to tying the game.

Then, with 19 seconds left in the period, McDavid won a battle along the boards, walked the puck in and beat Jake Oettinger to make the score 3-1. That was a heartbreaker.

“The second period was the staple of how we need to play against this team,” Rantanen said. “It’s sometimes tough when you get so many chances, like I said in the second and only get one goal, it’s frustrating. It’s sometimes hard to not let the frustration come, but we’ve got to do our best to not let it come to our minds. We’ve just got to stick with it.”

The third period looked like a lesson in frustration for the Stars. Edmonton added three goals and its scorers gained even more positivity and confidence in the process. The Oilers are now 5-1 at Rogers Place and have outscored the opposition 29-16 in those games.

“We had that structure, but one slip up, a couple of slip ups, and they’re a very dangerous team,” said Robertson. “And they can score goals.”

Skinner has been a mercurial goalie for the Oilers, but he’s been great against the Stars. He had 33 saves in a Game 6 win at Rogers Place last season to close the series, and he’s definitely a part of the puzzle Dallas will have to solve.

“Their goalie played really well,” Robertson said. “That was a big part of it.”

On the other side of the ice, Oettinger allowed six goals on 24 shots in his most frustrating outing of the playoffs, but DeBoer said he expects his netminder to bounce back.

“We wouldn’t be sitting here in the conference finals without Jake Oettinger and how he’s played,” DeBoer said. “Tonight was one of those games where they were opportunistic, and then once they got the lead, we’re pushing to get back in and then there’s grade-A’s the other way. One thing I know about Jake Oettinger is he’s one of the best response goalies in the league.”

Dallas played without No. 1 center Roope Hintz, who was injured on a slash by Darnell Nurse in Game 2. Hintz skated briefly in warm-up, but then left early and didn’t take line rushes.

“He wasn’t close,” DeBoer said.

The Stars shuffled players around, moving Mikael Granlund to the center spot and playing Robertson on the left wing. They also inserted Oskar Back and played him on the fourth line with Sam Steel and Colin Blackwell, and that was one of the Stars’ better lines.

“I give our guys credit,” DeBoer said. “They didn’t mail it in, they showed up and worked.”

Now, the question is: Can they put it all together in Game 4 and get the series even before it heads back to Dallas for Game 5?

“The building blocks are there for us to start winning some of these games,” DeBoer said.

While Bichsel added, “You can’t do anything about it tomorrow. We’re going to look at it and what we can do better, but then, it’s all about the next game. We have to win one game here on the road. That’s our goal.”

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.