For 40 minutes, the Oilers looked like a team in control. By the end of the third, they looked like one that forgot how to win.
Up 3-1 heading into the final period of Game 1 in the Western Conference Final, the Oilers imploded in stunning fashion, giving up five third-period goals — three of them on the penalty kill in the first six minutes — en route to a crushing 6-3 loss to the Dallas Stars.
“We’ve got to be an awful lot more mature than that,” said Leon Draisaitl, who had a goal and two assists before watching Dallas torch Edmonton’s penalty kill from the bench. “It just kills the momentum.”
This was a loss the Oilers handed away. The Stars didn’t steal it — Edmonton gift-wrapped it. A careless turnover by Draisaitl started the slide, and undisciplined penalties did the rest. Dallas needed no second invitation, capitalizing with surgical precision on a red-hot power play.
Defenceman Darnell Nurse didn’t mince words: “We have to be better. To a man.”
Edmonton had been rolling, winning eight of its last nine. But Wednesday night in Dallas, old habits crept back in — lapses in discipline, shaky penalty killing, and the kind of mental fragility that playoff teams can’t afford.
“There’s a five-minute window where we let our guard down,” said goalie Stuart Skinner. “You just can’t be doing that.”
The Oilers were the better team at even strength. They created chances. They should have closed it out. Instead, they blinked — and Dallas pounced.
Now trailing 1-0 in the series, Edmonton needs a response in Game 2. Fast.
Because no one’s handing out banners for being the better team for 40 minutes.
