Oilers HC Kris Knoblauch vows to stick by his game plan despite Game 1 collapse against Stars

Through two periods, it looked like the Edmonton Oilers were going to win. They had a 3-1 lead and were in control; however, the wheels fell off in Game 1 on Wednesday, and they shockingly lost.

The Dallas Stars piled on five unanswered goals. They won 6-3 to steal the first game of the series and left Edmonton with more questions than answers. Despite that, Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch doesn't envision making big changes.

"I think there's a lot of positives," Knoblauch said on Thursday. "So I don't think that we're going to change our game plan. I don't think we need to alter things a lot. You know, there are things that we can get better at."

He called Dallas a "good team" and said there are a "couple" of ways they can beat opponents. Knoblauch also said they're dangerous "on the rush," which is where they scored a handful of goals in Game 1.

"We need to make sure that we're not putting in a position to have success there," Knoblauch said. "And the other position they're really good in is the power play. Their power play been really good, especially the second half of the regular season and into the playoffs, and they've really capitalized on that."

He added that the big story was the power-play goals. The Oilers yielded in the third period but Knoblauch believes eliminating those issues will go a long way.

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Oilers goalie reflects on five-goal tirade

Stuart Skinner helped the Edmonton Oilers end the Vegas Golden Knights' season by recording two consecutive shutouts in the second round. He has also been benched this postseason, so it's been an up-and-down run.

Staurt Skinner had a rough outing (Imagn)

He allowed five goals on 27 shots in Game 1 against the Dallas Stars.

“Goals have been going in a little differently, in different ways," Skinner said on Thursday, via TSN. "Again, it’s a different series so they show us different things. The PK, it’s been a little bit up and down. It was bad at the start of the first round then got better. It was great all series against Vegas and (now) a struggle for one game. I mean, again, it's one game.”

Calvin Pickard got hurt, and Skinner was back in the lineup. However, he struggled mightily in the third period.