‘If you have to take a suspension, take one’: NHL legend says Oilers must better protect goalies

This in from Hall of Fame great Chris Pronger, hero of Edmonton’s 2006 run to the Stanley Cup Final, his prescription for how the Oilers should handle anyone who runs an Edmonton goalie, as Mikko Rantanen blasted Stuart Skinner, knocking him out of Wednesday night’s game.

Speaking on the Ray & Dregs podcast, Pronger said: “Well, first and foremost, if the sole purpose is to protect your goalie and be like, ‘Okay, you’re not touching the goalie, running the goalie,’ then you take the hardest, toughest penalty you possibly can on one of their best players, and then you go down the other end and you bump their goalie. And ultimately, are there going to be penalties? Yes, but in the long run, you’re sending a message and setting the tone of:this is not allowed. And if you continue to do it, then there will be repercussions. If you have to take a suspension, then you take one. I’m sorry, but you have to set the tone. And they should have done it a long time ago.”

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As for Oil veteran Corey Perry’s suggestion that the players will discuss in private how to handle such situations, Pronger said, “Yeah, it’s probably a meeting in the locker room of like how they’re going to handle things. How are they going to moving forward? What is our reaction, action going to be? You know, obviously, the action is you need to clear the front of the net. You need to make sure that you’re not allowing players that close your goalie. Well, then what is our reaction? If and when that does happen, what are we going to do about it? And how do we respond? And how do we send that message to the rest of the league?”

Pronger mentioned how the Oilers responded after Connor Garland of Vancouver mugged Oilers ace Connor McDavid. In the follow up game Perry went after Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes in a scrum and dumped him on his head.

Said Pronger: “It can always go back to that too and just be like, ‘You’re not going to be allowed to do that to our players.’

My take

1. Pronger was one of the best and nastiest players in the NHL. He was so ferocious that his teammates were inspired to play as if they were two inches taller and 20-pounds of muscle heavier. He scared the hell out of the opposition.

The Oilers have a player just like him in Evander Kane. But Kane has been injured all year. He’s been missed.

2. Some fans would have been glad to see Kane traded at the deadline. I think that would have been a horrendous mistake, and that the suggestion came from fans who fail to appreciate how important a factor that intimidation can be to winning in the playoffs.

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3. NHL Stanley Cup winning teams often feature what I call Dark Lords of the game, players who scare the hell out of the opposition. This was the case back in the day with Larry Robinson of the Montreal Canadiens, Denis Potvin of the New York Islanders, and Mark Messier of the Edmonton Oilers. We saw it again with Scott Stevens of the New Jersey Devils. Boston had this nuclear deterrent in Zdeno Chara, Florida with Sam Bennett. Of course, you don’t have to have this kind of player to win the Cup. But it sure helps. And it certainly cuts down on the B.S. from other teams.

I can’t wait for Kane to get back and take the ice with the Oilers. Just try running Stuart Skinner then.

Mark Carney presents himself as a moderate, middle-of-the road leader. But that is false.

In fact, Carney forcefully backed and evidently helped concoct one of the most troubling infringements of civil liberties Canada has seen this century.

Stars look to move closer to clinching playoff spot vs. Kraken

The Dallas Stars are spending the weekend in Seattle as they will play two games in three days against the Kraken starting Saturday night. The Stars can officially clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Kraken and a St. Louis Blues’ loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

While the Kraken (31-36-6, 68 points) are one regulation loss away from playoff elimination, they have played better of late. Seattle is 5-3-2 in its last 10 and won 6-1 at home over Edmonton on Thursday.

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“We’re pretty proud of what we’re putting out every night,” coach Dan Bylsma said Friday. “The guys compete and work and are playing for each other, and that bodes well for the future.”

Dallas (47-21-4, 98 points) won Thursday at Calgary 5-2 to extend its winning streak to four games and its points streak to seven (5-0-2).

After the game, Stars coach Pete DeBoer told reporters the team is not focusing on just making the playoffs but earning the best seed possible.

“It’s really important,” DeBoer said about earning as many wins as possible in Dallas’ final 10 regular-season contests. “We’re trying to hunt down Winnipeg and stay ahead of Colorado, and then the teams we’re playing are very desperate.”

Currently second in the Central Division, the Stars entered Friday five points ahead of the Colorado Avalanche (45-25-3, 93 points), who have one fewer game remaining on their schedule. Staying ahead of the Avs would guarantee the Stars home-ice advantage in the opening round of next month’s Stanley Cup playoffs, where they would most likely face Colorado. However, the Stars are also just four points behind the division-leading Winnipeg Jets (49-19-4, 102 points) and could catch them to earn home-ice through the Western Conference playoffs and possibly the Stanley Cup Final.

Dallas has been getting contributions from its top skaters during the current winning streak. Forward Jason Robertson has six points in his last four games, including a hat trick at Edmonton on Wednesday. Mikko Rantanen, acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes at the trade deadline three weeks ago, has eight points in 10 games since joining the club, including assists in each of the last three games. He also scored a goal in Calgary on March 27. Center Matt Duchene has notched at least a point in six of his last seven games (3 goals, 4 assists).

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Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger should make at least one start in the two games in Seattle. He last played in Wednesday’s 4-3 win at Edmonton, where he made a season-high 41 saves in edging the team that beat the Stars in last season’s Western Conference finals.

The Kraken may not be 100 percent healthy for the first game against Dallas. Center Chandler Stephenson missed Thursday’s win over Edmonton and has not played since March 19 due to an upper-body injury. The 30-year-old, who leads the team with 37 assists and is second with 48 points, is considered day-to-day.

Center Jaden Schwartz leads Seattle with 23 goals. He scored two in the win over Edmonton and has lit the lamp at least once in the team’s last three contests after going 10 games without one. Center Jared McCann leads the squad with 51 points and has six points (two goals, four assists) in his last five games, including a goal and a helper Thursday.