McDavid scores in double overtime as Oilers grab 1-0 lead in Western Conference final
CBC
Connor McDavid scored 32 seconds into double overtime as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Thursday in Game 1 of the NHL's Western Conference final.
The superstar captain took a pass from Evan Bouchard and redirected his third goal of the playoffs from the slot on Stars netminder Jake Oettinger.
Zach Hyman, with a goal and an assist, and Leon Draisaitl also scored for Edmonton. Stuart Skinner made 31 saves. McDavid also had an assist for a two-point night.
Tyler Seguin, with two goals, replied for Dallas, which got 35 stops from Oettinger.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series goes back on Saturday at American Airlines Center. The matchup shifts to Rogers Place in Edmonton Monday and Wednesday.
McDavid joined Wayne Gretzky as the only two players in NHL history to record 20 assists through 13 or fewer games in a post-season multiple times after setting up Hyman's second-period goal.
Draisaitl, meanwhile, became the fifth different player all-time to open a post-season with a 13-game point streak.
Edmonton killed off a four-minute McDavid penalty for high-sticking off the opening faceoff of OT — Jason Robertson hit both of Skinner's posts in quick succession on the ensuing power play — when the centre clipped Matt Duchene in the mouth.
McDavid then nearly won it later in the first extra period when he tried to outwait Oettinger alone in front, only to watch the goaltender and defenceman Chris Tanev combine to get their sticks in the way and deny the golden opportunity.
The Stars dispatched the Colorado Avalanche with a double OT victory in Game 6 to advance to the third round, while the Oilers went the distance to get past the Vancouver Canucks.
Dallas lost out to the Vegas Golden Knights in last spring's conference final. Edmonton was swept by Colorado at the same stage in 2022. Both the Golden Knights, who also eliminated the Oilers some 12 months ago, and Avalanche went on to win the Stanley Cup.
Edmonton opened Thursday's scoring 58 seconds into the second when Brett Kulak's partially blocked shot fell kindly to Draisaitl for him to bury his ninth.
Skinner made a big stop on Esa Lindell a few minutes later before Edmonton broke the other way. McDavid's initial rush chance was thwarted, but Hyman outmuscled both Lindell and Tanev to slide home his fourth at 4:17.
McDavid also had 20 assists in 13 playoff games in 2022. Gretzky accomplished the feat in 11 games in 1983 and 1985, and in 13 contests in 1987.
Alberta's declining COVID-19 vaccination rate is sparking more concern as it becomes clear how uptake in the province compares to other parts of the country.
Drivers faced treacherous road conditions Friday morning as tempuratures started to drop below freezing following a night of rain.
A cold front is sweeping through the Greater Toronto Area Friday morning, according to a special weather statement by Environment Canada.
In the wake of Calgary's council kicking off a process to repeal the city's blanket rezoning policy, the corporation responsible for administering significant federal housing money warns the changes could put funding for new housing at risk.
Residents of an apartment building in St. John's are finding their footing again after a fire burned through the complex leaving most without anything in October.
A new program aimed at providing employment advice for workers facing layoffs at Algoma Steel has been launched in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont..
Even if Samuel Provo-Benoit doesn’t get the present he dearly wants in time for Christmas — a kidney and pancreas transplant to beat the Type 1 diabetes that’s steadily destroying his body — he has something else to celebrate.
A claim by New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt that petroleum refiners will be paying the $1 million per week cost of a gasoline price cut that her government orchestrated last weekend does not appear to be unfolding that way.
Sonia Bélanger, junior health minister and the minister responsible for senior and social services, is expected to be sworn in as early as Friday as Quebec's new health minister, according to sources at Radio-Canada.
A growing number of Manitoba's MRI machines now use artificial intelligence, with a plan to have more than half using the technology by spring.
A mobile unit the Saskatchewan government bought in 2002 for providing mammograms to Saskatchewan women will soon retire.
The Prince Edward Island government is rolling out the province’s first-ever policing standards, which officials say will make police services more consistent, transparent and better supported.
Residents in Niagara Falls, Ont., continue to wait for news on the future of Marineland’s property and dozens of animals, including up to 30 belugas and four dolphins — nearly two months after the federal government turned down the theme park's request to export the mammals.