Oilers ‘happy with the split’ in Dallas entering Game 3 of Western Final

DALLAS -- Having slept on it, the Edmonton Oilers left here in a better mood on Sunday than they were the night before after losing Game 2 of the Western Conference Final 3-1 to the Dallas Stars.

The Oilers are returning to Edmonton with their coveted split after winning the opening game of the series 3-2 in double overtime on Thursday. Edmonton now has home-ice advantage in the best-of-7 series entering Game 3 at Rogers Place on Monday (8:30 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MAX).

“This gives us an opportunity to make the most of our home games,” Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse said Sunday. “They were very tight games, really one-goal games both of them, so it’s going to be a tight series just like the last one was.”

Edmonton is 4-2 at Rogers Place in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and doesn’t have to win another game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas if it can win all three games of the series at home.

The Oilers will be backed by a boisterous crowd and coach Kris Knoblauch will be able to dictate the line matchups with last change.

“We’re in a good position,” Knoblauch said. “Before the series started if someone said that we’re going to be 1-1 coming into our building, we would have been happy. But when you win the first one, you always want to win the next one. It’s nice that we’re going to go back to Edmonton and play in front of our crowd at home. It’s going to be tough whether we’re playing them at home or on the road, so we just carry on.”

Edmonton is facing a different style of opponent in the conference final than it did in the first and second round. The Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings in five games and then the Vancouver Canucks in seven to book a spot in the conference final for the second time in three seasons.

Both the Kings and Canucks were big, heavy, physical teams, while the Stars are a strong skating team that transitions the puck up the ice quickly. The physicality Edmonton faced in the first two rounds has not been as extensive in the first two games against Dallas, and so far, the series has been fast-paced.

“They’re a fast team, they like to play on the go,” Nurse said. “They like to push the pace on transition, and for us, we have to be on our toes. They obviously have a lot of depth throughout their lineup and a lot of depth that can skate, and they make you pay when you’re not on top of your game. So, you just adjust as each team comes and as each series goes.”

The Oilers lamented the chances they squandered in Game 2, when they outshot the Stars 16-4 in the opening period but only came out of it tied 1-1. Dallas found its footing in the second period and took the lead at 3:41 of the third on a redirection from Mason Marchment. Esa Lindell added an empty-net goal with Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner pulled for the extra attacker at 17:57 of the third.

“We’re happy with the split,” Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “Obviously, you’d rather take two, but coming into a good team’s building, it’s going to be hard-fought, and I thought they had a pushback last night that we expected.”

Despite the loss, Edmonton feels it did a lot of good things in the first two games and wants to build on them moving forward. Nugent-Hopkins is looking forward to going back and playing at Rogers Place, where the Oilers have not played since defeating the Canucks 5-1 in Game 6 of the second round on May 18.

“It’s a little more fun when the atmosphere is cheering for you and the crowd is behind you,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “I thought it’s been a great atmosphere these past two games in Dallas. You can get some energy from the opposing atmosphere when they’re that loud, but we’re excited to get back home.

“As far as our game plan, it’s going to be the same. Trying to get a simple start, try to get our legs under us and get the home crowd behind us.”

Edmonton has tried to deploy all four lines as much as possible through the first two games with the amount of even-strength play so far in the series. The Oilers had three power plays through the first two games and the Stars had six, with neither team being able to convert.

Edmonton’s power play at home is converting at 38.1 percent (8-for-21), which is the best of any team in the playoffs.

“This time of year, [Edmonton] is an amazing place to play,” Oilers forward Derek Ryan said. “Anyone that’s played against us knows it. You see all the people outside, you can see in warmup all the people through the glass, and it’s just an amazing environment and a great place to play.”