Oilers play well but couldn’t beat Jake Oettinger, back in loss column with 4-1 final in Dallas

If you were looking for a measuring stick game to see where the Edmonton Oilers are actually at as a team, there was no better test than a Saturday afternoon dance with the Dallas Stars. Unfortunately, it was a test they failed by a 4-1 margin, and it was back in the loss column for the Oilers.

I always feel split when there’s a matinee on the schedule. Part of me is happy to have an excuse for an afternoon Nation Beer and watch the boys do their thing. The other part of me knows how painful so many of these daylight games have been for this team over the years. Then again, I suppose it’s nice not to be annoyed about sports by the time we go to bed. But as much as we may dislike matinees, the boys have gotten better during the daylight hours, even posting an 8-2-1 record last season. Even so, they needed to be exceptionally sharp to beat Jake Oettinger and the Dallas Stars.

Yet, even with Dallas being a more than worthy foe, I was hopeful that some of the playoff disdain would carry over and be the spark our boys needed to win a fifth straight game against the Stars dating back to the Western Conference Final. The Oilers were heavily underestimated going into that series, and they used that underdog mentality as fuel to get the job done. I don’t know if the same logic applies since the good guys knocked Dallas out of the playoffs, but I was hoping the boys would channel the same energy anyway.

So, when the Oilers opened the game with the puck on a string and a laundry list of quality offensive chances, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before they could make something click. Yet, despite outshooting the Stars 11-2 through 20 minutes, Jake Oettinger was back to being his annoying old self, keeping his team tied even though they were heavily outplayed. Even though the Oilers probably deserved at least a goal or two for their efforts, what I thought they deserved didn’t really matter when the $66-million man looked worth every penny.

Unfortunately, Oettinger being annoying was a storyline that carried into the second period too. Picking up right where they left off, the Oilers carried the play for most of the period and had plenty of looks that could have ended up as goals with a little luck. But with bagels on the scoreboard, it was only a matter of time until the Stars started fighting back since they were still in the fight despite the ice being heavily tilted in Edmonton’s favour. Near the midway point of the second period, Dallas started to produce a few decent chances of their own. And thanks to a late power play opportunity off a bad play by Stecher, it was Matt Duchene who opened the scoring.

Yes, the Stars were being outshot 2:1 after 40 minutes, but they were the ones taking a 1-0 lead into the third period thanks to a late goal that Stuart Skinner would probably want to have back. And even though the Oilers dominated more than their share of the first two periods, they entered the third period chasing a game that they once looked to have in control. But instead of the comeback we needed, the Stars did what they always do and locked the game down. Instead of giving Edmonton any space to get the equalizer, Dallas put their foot on the gas and extended their lead.

In a span of just over a minute, Dallas picked up two goals by Matt Duchene and Roope Hintz to put themselves firmly in the lead and the Oilers back on their heels. It was like the third goal against took any remaining wind out of their sails, and everyone was content to ride out the clock. Even when Leon Draisaitl scored to make it a two-goal game, the Oilers put themselves in a spot where it was still a massive hill to climb. It’s all well and good to win the Corskis over 40 minutes, but it doesn’t matter unless you get the goalskis to match.

Depending how you look at it, you can choose to see the loss or that the Oilers were clearly the better team for nearly 40 minutes and just couldn’t score. In the interest of not ruining the rest of my weekend, I’m choosing the latter path. Sometimes you run into a hot goalie like Oettinger and things fall apart from there, and that’s where my Oilers biased brain is leading me. Others may choose to focus on a dire special teams situation, another sub-.900 goaltending performance, or key players struggling to produce, but that’s their business. Have a great weekend, everybody.

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