The Edmonton Oilers missed their chance to draw first blood in the Western Conference Final, falling to the Dallas Stars by a 6-3 final score at the American Airlines Center on Wednesday night.
The Oilers took a 3-1 lead into the third period and appeared poised to steal the opening contest in a hostile environment. But the Stars seized the momentum after the Oilers got into penalty trouble, scoring four unanswered goals.
DALLAS COMPLETES THE COMEBACK IN GAME 1‼️ #StanleyCup
Watch Game 2 between the @EdmontonOilers and @DallasStars on Friday, May 23 at 8p ET on @espn, @ESPNPlus, @Sportsnet and @TVASports! pic.twitter.com/VNuGAj3hyf
— NHL (@NHL) May 22, 2025
Among the goal scorers for the Stars were Matt Duchene, who tallied for the first time in the postseason, and the Finnish duo of Miro Heiskanen and Mikael Granlund.
Oilers Fans Want Their Players To Stop Taking Penalties
Oilers fans’ reactions on social media tended to focus on the need for their team to stay out of the penalty box.
One fan said, “Gonna need to figure the penalties situation out FAST, need to bring more discipline. Dallas is too good on the PP to give them that many, especially in the 3rd…”
Keeping with that theme, another fan said, “Three powerplay goals against, to start the third was terrible. Other than that, 5v5, we were good. Throw that game out the window, get rid of penalties, and we will be fine.”
One fan called out the performance and brought attention to the referees, and wrote, “Pps killed us. Only reason they even made it this far and we keep giving them pps and refs horrible call on Kane to hand them the game!!”
One Oilers fan wanted to keep the blame away from Skinner and said, “That being said, it’s only one game. Hopefully the boys bounce back on Friday🤞 They proved they can outplay than Dallas team, it was their own mistakes and undisciplined play that did them in. Brutal. As for Skinner, I’m not blaming him. Team fell apart in front of him.”
Another fan thought Skinner should have been better and wrote, “The Oilers just Leafed a game so badly. They went from 3-1 to 6-3 in 20 minutes. I can’t blame everything on Skinner, but he should’ve done better. They have to stop taking penalties. That’s what cost them the game.”
Oilers Coach Kris Knoblauch Admits That Game Turned in 3rd Period
Speaking to reporters after the game, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch admitted that while his club felt that they got off to a good start in the opening 40 minutes of play, the final 20 minutes were a completely different story.
“After the first two periods, we felt it was a good start,” he said. “And then it just turned in the third period. We’re going to have to put this one behind us and move on. We’ve had some heartbreaking losses in the playoffs, and we’ve been able to rebound nicely and not worry too much about it.”
The Oilers will have to shake off the bad feelings from their loss on Wednesday and refocus for their next game, which will be on Friday. The puck is scheduled to drop at 8:00 p.m. ET.
