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When Pete DeBoer knew it was ‘game over’ for Stars vs. Oilers
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- When Pete DeBoer knew it was ‘game over’ for Stars vs. Oilers
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
The post When Pete DeBoer knew it was 'game over' for Stars vs. Oilers appeared first on ClutchPoints .
The Edmonton Oilers beat the Dallas Stars in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final to end the series. Connor McDavid scored a jaw-dropping goal to make the score 4-2 in the second period. It nixed any momentum Dallas had after cutting the 3-0 deficit down to one. That was the moment that Stars coach Pete DeBoer knew the Oilers had this one in the bag .
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"He's not missing that," DeBoer said, per Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic. "And it's game over."
The Oilers scored two goals in the first 7:09 of the game, forcing the Stars to make a goalie change. DeBoer pulled Jake Oettinger in favor of Casey DeSmith for the first time this postseason. Jeff Skinner scored on the first shot DeSmith faced. But Dallas finally flipped the ice late in the first period with a Jason Robertson goal.
Robertson scored with just over eight minutes left in the first to make it 3-1, which was the score for a while. Then, Roope Hintz scored on the power play 12:27 into the second period. The Stars had cut the lead to one, but their backup goalie was still in the net. It was a point of contention for the fans, as Oettinger has been the top goalie for years in Dallas.
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Then, Mattias Ekholm blocked a Thomas Harley shot, and the puck ricocheted into the neutral zone. McDavid pounced with his blinding speed and came barreling in on DeSmith. Hintz made a good run at chasing him down, but it was too little, too late. McDavid scored, as he always seems to do, exactly when the Oilers need it.
Last year, the Oilers went down 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final to the Panthers but forced a Game 7. This year, they have home-ice advantage and will look for some revenge. Meanwhile, the Stars go into another offseason with a lot of questions.
