Oilers’ killer instinct buries Dallas, books spot in Stanley Cup Final

The Edmonton Oilers turned their killer instinct loose on the Dallas Stars and that was the end of it.

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There was no escape.

There almost never is when the Oilers smell blood in the water.

In closing the coffin lid on Dallas Thursday with a 6-3 victory that captured a second-straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers improved to 9-1 in the last four years when they have a chance to put an opponent out of its misery.

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The only team to survive an elimination game against Edmonton was the Florida Panthers in Game 7 last year, a loss the Oilers are now in a position to avenge in the first Cup Final rematch since 2009.

“It’s amazing,” said Leon Draisaitl. “We put in a lot of work over the year and a lot of guys stepped up at different times. We just found our game, we found our pieces in the right spot. We’re starting to find our stride.”

Brace yourselves for Oilers-Panthers II. The Stanley Cup Final opens Wednesday in Edmonton.

“We’re going up against a great team, the Stanley Cup champs from last year,” said Oiler captain Connor McDavid. “It’s their third finals in a row. There’s not much you can say about them; they’re great.

“We’ll have our hands full, but we’re a good team, we’re a special team. We feel good about our game.”

The Oilers are a machine right now, improving to 12-2 in the last 14 games after overcoming the 0-2 deficit to beat Los Angeles in six and taking Vegas and Dallas down in five games each.

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And Game 5 against the Stars was a master class in taking life away from your opponent.

They were up 2-0 on goals from Corey Perry and Mattias Janmark and chased Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger from the game after just two shots. One minute after that, Jeff Skinner made it 3-0 on backup goalie Casey DeSmith.

It was such a catastrophic start to a big game by Dallas that the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes wanted royalty payments.

And every time the Stars got it in their heads that they might be coming back, Edmonton delivered another fatal gut punch.

Two minutes after Roope Hintz closed it to 3-2 late in the second, Connor McDavid made it 4-2. Three minutes after Jason Robertson made it 4-3 in the third, Evander Kane made it 5-3.

“That was a golden example of a big player making a big play in a big moment,” defenceman Darnell Nurse said of the McDavid breakaway.

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“He’s the best player in the world and we have two of those guys on our team,” added Corey Perry, who’ll be heading to his sixth Stanley Cup Final. “They want to make a difference, they want to be THAT GUY. And they don’t shy away from it.

“You see it out there. Dallas has a push going, they just score that power play goal and he puts it in the back of the net and kind of calms everything down.”

This was as complete a series as any coaching staff could have asked for. The Oilers outscored Dallas 19-5 in the last four games and held the Stars to four shots in the third periods of Games 3, 4 and 5.

When Jeff Skinner scored his first career playoff goal, it made it 19 different Oilers with a goal so far. Eleven different players have three or more goals.

“That’s what’s been winning us hockey games and you need that at this time of year,” said Draisaitl. “We knew we were going to need everybody. Both goalies have given us a chance every night and our depth has been incredible.”

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Next up, Florida. These are two power teams that have been on a collision course since the playoffs began. This time, the Oilers plan on finishing the job.

“We’re mature, we’ve learned and we’re learning every game,” said Perry. “The way we’re playing, the calmness on the bench, making plays when things are going hairy on the ice — it’s been a want since the end of last year. There’s been a lot of thinking about what happened last year and self-reflecting.

“And now here we are.”

• Mattias Ekholm returned to the mix for Game 5. He hadn’t played a game since re-injuring himself after 1:52 of ice time on April 11. He hadn’t played a full game since March 26.

• The first game without injured wingers Zach Hyman and Connor Brown meant that Jeff Skinner drew back in for his first game since the series opener against the Los Angeles Kings. Skinner no longer holds the NHL record for most regular-season goals (373) without a playoff goal

LATE HITS: The Oilers scored first in every game of the series… Connor McDavid picked up the 100th assist of his playoff career (90 games).

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com

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