Nugent-Hopkins scores 2 power-play goals and Oilers beat Stars 3-1 to move a win away from Cup final
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored two quick power-play goals, Stuart Skinner stopped 19 shots and the Edmonton Oilers beat the top-seeded Dallas Stars 3-1 in the Western Conference Final to take a 3-2 series lead
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and the Edmonton Oilers went into Game 5 of the Western Conference Final determined to score if they got a power-play chance.
They did twice, and quickly both times, in a 3-1 win over the top-seeded Dallas Stars to take a 3-2 series lead and get within one victory of going to the Stanley Cup Final.
“We’ve been pushing and they obviously don’t take a lot of penalties. You don’t have three, four or five opportunities a game to find your rhythm,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “So going into tonight, we wanted to make sure that if we only got one, we were going to make it count.”
There hadn’t been a power-play goal by either team in this series until Nugent-Hopkins scored on a rebound only 18 seconds after a penalty in the first period, only their seventh chance against Dallas. That was 2 seconds longer than it took for him to score with a man advantage again after a penalty just a minute into the second period.
