Despite only getting 10 shots on the Dallas Stars’ net, the Edmonton Oilers managed to score two goals, enough to earn a hard-fought Game 6 win at Rogers Place on Sunday night to become the NHL’s Western Conference champions and move on to the Stanley Cup Final, something the club has not accomplished since 2006.
Overjoyed Oilers fans celebrated inside and outside the arena as “La Bamba,” the song that Edmonton always plays after victories, blared through loudspeakers.
Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner stopped 34 of 35 shots in the 2-1 win. Like the Oilers as a whole, Skinner has shined during the team’s biggest games during the playoffs after the storied club survived a stormy beginning to the season that many Oilers players described as a “(Stanley) Cup of bust” campaign.
The Oilers started the NHL regular season with a 3-9-1 record that led to the firing of head coach Jay Woodcroft and a shakeup of the team’s goaltending depth chart. Kris Knoblauch was hired as the team’s new bench boss while Skinner emerged as the clear-cut No. 1 goaltender for the Oilers.
A jaw-dropping power-play goal from captain Connor McDavid and another from winger Zach Hyman were all the Oilers needed to fend off the Stars, despite a furious attempt by the Texas club to claw their way back into the game, one that included a goal from forward Mason Marchment.
Sunday night’s win, giving the Oilers the Clarence Campbell Bowl as the NHL’s Western Conference champions, means Edmonton will now face the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Oilers last won a Stanley Cup championship in 1990. The last time a Canadian club hoisted the trophy was in 1993 when the Montreal Canadiens accomplished the feat.
The Oilers and Panthers will begin the best-of-seven NHL championship series on Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla.
Below is a recap — in photos — of the win that saw the Oilers earn their spot in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final.
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