Nugent-Hopkins ‘awesome’ for Oilers in Game 5 win against Stars

DALLAS -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is a coach’s dream according to Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, and the longest-serving member of the team lived up to the billing against the Dallas Stars in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final at American Airlines Center on Friday.

Nugent-Hopkins scored two power-play goals in a 3-1 win that gave Edmonton a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series. The Oilers can advance to the 2024 Stanley Cup Final with a win in Game 6 at Edmonton on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MAX).

“He’s so valuable in every facet of the game. He touches every part of the game,” Draisaitl said prior to the victory. “Have you guys ever seen him make a mistake? I really haven’t. He’s just such a smart, good hockey player and he’s probably the coach’s favorite player in the world.”

Prior to the game, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said his favorite player keeps changing, but there was little doubt who got that honor Friday.

“I actually saw Ryan tonight, and I told him tonight, he’s my favorite,” Knoblauch said. “Two goals tonight. Obviously the power play was really big. [He’s] a part of the penalty kill. He had a good game. A lot of guys had a good game.”

Nugent-Hopkins opened the scoring by batting the rebound of an Evan Bouchard shot past Stars goalie Jake Oettinger at 14:09 of the first period. He scored again to make it 2-0 at 1:06 of the second period, snapping a shot past Oettinger from the slot off a pass from Draisaitl.

“We gave ourselves a chance here (to win the series) and that’s all you can ask,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “I thought we played a great game, a pretty full 60 (minutes), and now we get a chance to close it out on home ice. It’s going to take everything, an effort like we had tonight.”

It has been a long road for the 31-year-old forward, who was the No. 1 pick by Edmonton in the 2011 NHL Draft and is in his 13th season with the Oilers.

Nugent-Hopkins was part of an initial rebuild that included No. 1 picks Taylor Hall (2010) and Nail Yakupov (2012), but it never took hold. It wasn’t until the Oilers won the 2015 NHL Draft Lottery and selected center Connor McDavid No. 1 that things began to turn around.

“He gets asked to do so much on this team, whether it’s on the kill, big draws on the kill, he’s got a big responsibility on the power play,” said McDavid, the Oilers captain. “He’s asked to do everything and always delivers, and tonight was big. He was awesome.”

Until Edmonton ended a 10-season postseason drought in 2017, Nugent-Hopkins had not played a Stanley Cup Playoff game in his first five seasons. He has 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) in 17 games in the playoffs this season, and 59 points (16 goals, 43 assists) in 66 NHL postseason games.

“It’s the furthest we’ve been in a while. It’s a lot of fun,” Nugent-Hopkins said prior to the game. “This is why we do it. This is why we work so hard and play. Obviously when you’re in it, you’re just playing and looking for that next win, so it’s not like you sit back and reflect too much on it while you’re in the moment. At the same time, it’s exciting and we understand where we are and the opportunity we have ahead of us, so it’s fun to be a part of it.”

Nugent-Hopkins went through lean seasons with the Oilers before they became Stanley Cup contenders. He is the only player remaining from the earlier rebuild and recommitted to the organization when he signed an eight-year contract on June 29, 2021, that runs through the 2028-29 season.

“I think your early years, especially if you’re coming from junior where you had some success, it can be frustrating for sure to be missing the playoffs year in and year out, but at the same time, you get extra time to work on your game in the summer,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “As young kid there’s lots to grow into physically and mentally. You kind of mature and figure out how you’re going to be a good player in the League.”

Missing the playoffs in his early seasons has made Nugent-Hopkins appreciative of the current run. The Oilers have been knocking on the door, reaching the playoffs for a fifth straight season, and have gone through their share of postseason heartbreak. Now Nugent-Hopkins and the Oilers are one win away from facing either the Florida Panthers or New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Final, where Edmonton hasn’t been since 2006.

“Definitely the crowd is going to be buzzing for sure, it’s going to be loud and it’s going be exciting,” Nugent-Hopkins said of Game 6 at home. “For us, it’s about controlling the emotions, playing within ourselves and trusting our game, and it should be good enough to get the job done.”

When he first came into the NHL, Nugent-Hopkins was the young face of the Oilers’ future. Though he hasn’t appeared to have aged since joining Edmonton from Red Deer of the Western Hockey League, Nugent-Hopkins has developed into one of the best two-way players in the League.

“I think he’s the heartbeat of this team,” defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “He’s been here a long time. He’s the one that shows the culture. He’s a hardworking guy, and I think his game suits that perfect where he is so responsible defensively but still a threat and part of that power-play unit that is probably one of the most lethal ones in the game. I have nothing but praise for him. I think he’s a great guy off the ice as well, so he does it all.”

Nugent-Hopkins is one of the few players on the roster who plays a major role in all situations. He is on the first line with McDavid and Zach Hyman, plays on the first power-play unit and kills penalties.

“Definitely, it’s something that I’ve taken a lot of pride in over the years and worked on both sides of the puck,” he said. “I want to be relied upon in different situations. We have a lot of guys that can play in both situations, we know that, but it’s something that I do take a lot of pride in. You have to be dialed in at all times and sometimes the power play can make the difference, sometimes the PK can make the difference and sometimes you have to get it done 5-on-5.

“You want to keep improving on both sides of it and see where we can get.”