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The perfect period Oilers get back into series with 20 magical minutes
Posted: Monday April 17, 2000 10:27 PM
By Terry Jones, Edmonton Sun They had tags on their toes. They had pennies on their eyelids. Their obituaries had not only been written, they'd been printed. It was just a matter of waiting until Dallas threw the dirt on them. So what was that? And where did that come from? It was one of the most amazing periods in all of Edmonton Oilers playoff history. It's tough to think of one more astounding. I'm not talking about the Oilers 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars just in terms of it being a win. Lots of teams win Game 3. In the playoffs, if you're going to win one, it's usually Game 3. But what we watched last night was waaaaaaaay beyond the usual Game 3 business. From a team that skated every stride in Dallas with '`we can't win'' body language, came a throw-the-kitchen-sink-at-'em, refuse-to-lose first period that was beyond belief, much less logical expectations. GO CRAZY Inspired by a crowd that was going to go crazy and have its Stanley Cup playoff experience whether the home town heroes intended to join them or not, the Oilers rode their wave and, led by their captain, carried the crowd home with an unforgettable payoff. Doug Weight played the game of his career when the Oilers needed it most. Just when you were starting to wonder if the Stanley Cup playoffs could deliver any more memory-makers for a small-market Canadian franchise that has had more than its fair share, a team that had already been counted out after doing diddly in Dallas delivered a dandy. "Good old-fashioned Oilers' playoff hockey,'' said coach Kevin Lowe after the 5-2 win was manufactured in such a manner that, after the first period, you had to rub your eyes just to be sure you watched what you watched. "We put it together at the best possible time of the season,'' added Lowe. The Oilers wanted to get back to the ABCs of playoff hockey. They had the A, B, C, D, E and F licked when they led 2-0 and had an 11-1 edge in shots halfway through the first period. They went for the rest of the alphabet after that. "We weren't going to go down the way we did in the first two games. It was in-your-face hockey. Overall we won the battles. We didn't win those battles in Dallas. But we won them here tonight.'' When the period was over and the Oilers led 3-0 and broke a team playoff record with 22 shots on goal, the Skyreach Centre crowd paid them off with a standing ovation. Imagine. A team that couldn't conjure up 22 shots in the first five periods in Dallas combined, ran up more shots in one period than Gretzky and gang did in any playoff period they ever played. "The snowball started long before the first goals went in,'' said Stars' coach Ken Hitchcock. "We were second on pucks. They had their impact players playing with grit and determination. We played top-notch hockey in Dallas. They played top-notch hockey here. "I would imagine that game is now the way the rest of this series is going to be played. Everybody in Canada knows the intensity level in this series just went up a whole bunch.'' And could you have penned a better plot than that Weight, a minus-four in Dallas, wearing the captain's 'C' at home for the first time in the playoffs, played an everyone-here-kindly-step-to-the-rear-and-let-a-winner-lead-the-way game. Weight had the Skyreach ice covered in hats when he scored his third goal to give the Oilers a 5-1 lead at 6:13 of the second period. It was the first hat trick since Joe Murphy did it on May 6, 1992. That was the last time the Oilers had five goals in a playoff game. That was 38 playoff games ago. "It's been a few years,'' said Lowe. "I think this was a few years brewing for Dougie. Down the stretch Dougie brought it to another level. He takes a lot of pride in the fact he's the captain of this team.'' Weight could have had four. He was in on Eddie Belfour 2-on-0 and passed to Georges Laraque. That said something, too. Weight spent little time talking about himself. A GRITTY EFFORT "That was Oilers playoff hockey. The defence played just tremendous. It was a gritty effort. The biggest thing was that we won the battles. We didn't do that in Dallas. We really, really hounded the puck. "But this is a long way from being anything right now. That team over there is far from panicking.'' One thing happened last night that really hasn't happened before, either. This team harnessed the crowd. The fans, with a scene that is now as good as it gets on the Stanley Cup trail, fuelled the Oilers instead of having almost the opposite effect. "Phenomenal,'' said Lowe of the crowd. "It's been that way since the Oilers got back into the playoffs. It's a huge, huge advantage.'' Ryan Smyth said it meant so much for the way they Oilers launched themselves into every battle in the first period. "Those kind of things send chills down your spine. It gets the adrenaline going,'' said Smyth. "The crowd was really wild in here,'' said Weight. "In past years, I don't think we've been able to use the crowd like we did tonight. In past years it was almost too much for us to handle.'' And so it came to an end. Nine straight playoff losses to Dallas. "It was a long time coming for a lot of guys,'' said Lowe. "We had nine or 10 guys who had never won a playoff game,'' said Weight. "I'm happiest for Tommy Salo. As great as he's played, to keep losing had to be wearing on him a bit.'' On him? Try the town. To play like the Oilers played to win like they won against the Stanley Cup champions last night gives Edmonton hope not just for Game 4 but, far more importantly, for future playoff series and seasons. Listen to "Terry Jones At Large" weekdays at 8:35 a.m. and 5:05 p.m. on 790 CFCW.
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