Mark Spector

1 week ago | sportsnet.ca | Mark Spector

DALLAS — Someone had to say something. In a dressing room full of devastated Edmonton Oilers players, some in tears and all in various stages of undress after a Game 7 loss at Florida in last year’s Stanley Cup Final, Zach Hyman decided he would be the voice. “There’s nothing that’s going to make this feel better. Nothing we say,” he said, in footage aired as part of the Amazon documentary on last spring’s playoffs. “But I (expletive) know — I know — we’re going to be back. I (expletive) know it.

1 week ago | sportsnet.ca | Mark Spector

EDMONTON — Lester "Baby Face" Nelson was a notorious gangster and bank robber in the '20s and '30s who hung with one of the great shooters of his day, John Dillinger. Ryan "Baby Face" Nugent-Hopkins is a notorious (penalty) killer currently robbing the Dallas Stars of their Stanley Cup dreams, who runs with one of the great shooters of the current day.

1 week ago | sportsnet.ca | Mark Spector

EDMONTON — In the games that truly matter in a series — Games 4-7 — the Edmonton Oilers are 16-2 over the past two seasons. It’s an incredible stat. Beginning tonight, we enter the back half of this Western Conference Final. The time when results are at a premium. “I think that our team likes those moments,” said Leon Draisaitl. Dallas has won three consecutive Game 4s when trailing a series 2-1, while Edmonton has also won three straight while up 2-1.

1 week ago | sportsnet.ca | Mark Spector

EDMONTON — “I want him healthy and I want him to help us win. He's a better player than I am. That's just the reality of the world.” — Troy Stecher on Mattias Ekholm. At maybe five-foot-10 and 184 pounds — and with a string of sub-15-point seasons on his HockeyDB profile — Troy Stecher should never have played in 560 NHL games.

1 week ago | sportsnet.ca | Mark Spector

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers are crushing the Dallas Stars at five-on-five in this series, beating them 3-0 in a low-event game in Game 2 and then smoking the Stars 6-1 in a run ‘n’ gun, high-event Game 3. The Oilers’ goaltending is better, their big boys are more productive and they’re out-hitting the Stars. Meanwhile, Dallas has the better special teams and it hasn’t mattered a lick — they’re down 2-1 in the series. The bottom line?