Oilers too slick for Stars: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins leads Edmonton to 3-1 win over Dallas in Game 5
CBC
The Edmonton Oilers are one victory from the Stanley Cup final.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored two power-play goals as Edmonton smothered the Dallas Stars 3-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the NHL's Western Conference final on Friday.
Philip Broberg had the other goal for Edmonton. Stuart Skinner made 19 saves. Evan Bouchard added two assists.
Wyatt Johnston replied for Dallas, which has lost two in a row and now faces elimination after leading the best-of-seven series 2-1. Jake Oettinger stopped 23 shots.
Stars defenceman Chris Tanev suited up after taking a shot off his right foot in the second period of Game 4.
The Oilers, who last made the final in 2006 and last hoisted hockey's holy grail in 1990, can close things out Sunday in Edmonton. Game 7, if necessary, would be Tuesday back in Dallas.
The winner of Game 5 when a best-of-seven matchup is tied 2-2 has gone on to win 78.8 per cent of the time (231-62), including 50-15 (.769) when the matchup is immediately before the final.
Nugent-Hopkins scored the first power-play goal of the series at 14:09 of the opening period. Bouchard's one-timer was blocked by Tanev, but the puck popped right to the longest-serving Oilers player at the side of the net for him to swat home his fifth of the post-season.
The Stars were short-handed after Ryan Suter was whistled for roughing on Edmonton captain Connor McDavid — a call that had the veteran defenceman fuming.
Dallas got a chance on the man advantage when Edmonton was caught with too many men on the ice, but the visitors' stout penalty kill doused a 24th straight infraction dating back to Game 4 of the second round against the Vancouver Canucks.
Corey Perry went to the Oilers locker room earlier in the period favouring his right shoulder after a hard check on fellow 39-year-old forward Joe Pavelski, but returned in the second.
Edmonton made it 2-0 on another power play 66 seconds into the second when Bouchard and Leon Draisaitl combined to find a streaking Nugent-Hopkins, who ripped a shot off the post inside a stunned American Airlines Center.
The Oilers went up by three 4:03 later when Broberg — inserted into the lineup in Game 4 — blasted his first through a crowd on Oettinger.
Dallas got a bit of life after finally killing of an Edmonton man advantage, but the visitors fended off a 25th straight short-handed opportunity late in the period thanks to a couple good Skinner stops on Seguin and Johnston.
Businesses in Edmonton don’t have to recycle or compost — but that could soon change.
A day after two elderly Vancouver Island women told RCMP they had been scammed for thousands of dollars, a man walked into the detachment saying he took their money during his delivery work and was unsure if what he was doing was legal.
Schools across the Hamilton, Niagara, Burlington and Brantford areas are closed today after the area was hit with a winter storm overnight.
All school buses in Windsor and Essex County are cancelled on Thursday morning according to Windsor-Essex Student Transportation Services.
Newly released court documents in the case of Jack and Lilly Sullivan offer more details on the relationship between their mother and stepfather leading up to the children's disappearance more than eight months ago.
Another sawmill in northwestern Ontario is being shut down indefinitely.
Heavy snow throughout the Greater Toronto Area is forcing residents to rethink their Thursday morning schedules due to transit delays and a number of school closures.
Pack your patience and bundle up because Thursday is going to be a snowy and cold day in Waterloo region, Guelph and Wellington County.
An N.W.T. judge has ruled that a complicated dispute involving Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation (LKDFN) and the accounting firm KPMG should mostly be heard in open court, and not through a separate arbitration process.
In military deterrence lingo, what we're witnessing in Greenland is sometimes referred to as the "glass plate" or the "tripwire."
Canada's top court is hearing final arguments on Thursday in a case resurfacing former prime minister Justin Trudeau's role in the WE Charity scandal, which could bring sweeping changes to how Canadians hold their elected officials accountable.
National home sales in Canada declined by 1.9 per cent in December compared to the same period a year earlier, according to a report published by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) on Wednesday, capping a year that saw lower interest rates but heightened economic anxiety.
Ontario sent a blunt message to U.S. booze suppliers when it yanked their alcohol off its shelves last year, pledging to redirect customers to local producers, and those businesses say they’re trying to make the most of what could be a limited-time opportunity to change buying habits.