(2P) Oilers at (1C) Stars
Western Conference Final, Game 5
8:30 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS
Best-of-7 series tied 2-2
DALLAS -- It comes down to a best-of-3 in the Western Conference Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars, beginning with Game 5 at American Airlines Center on Friday.
The Oilers return to Dallas following their 5-2 win in Game 4, when they came back with five unanswered goals after falling behind 2-0 early in the first period. Their won’t-say-die mentality is something they’d like to bring into Game 5.
“Obviously the first eight minutes (of Game 4) weren’t good," Edmonton forward Zach Hyman said, "but the consistency throughout the final 52 (minutes) or so, whatever it was, was what we want to take away.
“Being able to sustain that pressure throughout the whole game, being down by two, tying it and then going up by two and being able to hold onto the lead in the third. Just being able to maintain our pace and play throughout the whole game.”
For the Stars, they’ve got home-ice advantage the rest of the way and are hopeful one of their big pieces is available. Defenseman Chris Tanev, who left Game 4 midway through the second period after blocking a shot off his right foot, is a game-time decision, and Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said he was optimistic Tanev would play.
As far as the Stars’ overall game, it has to be better.
“I liked our start," DeBoer said. "I thought obviously they were better for longer periods of time. A lot of time in the NHL you get what you deserve. Not many nights you win, and you don’t deserve to win, or the teams are even. The better team won (Wednesday). The games we’ve won, we’ve been the better team. We have to up our game here in Game 5.”
Here are 3 keys for Game 5:
1. Handle the swings
After coming back from a 2-0 deficit in Game 3, Dallas was on the other side of that in Game 4. The Stars couldn’t carry the dominance of their first few minutes throughout the whole game. Though it’s tough to string together a full 60 minutes, they want to deal with momentum swings better than they did in Game 4.
“No lead is safe, that’s for sure," Dallas captain Jamie Benn said. "But it’s just trying to do the right things every time you go out here on the ice. Big shifts after you score a goal or big shifts after they score a goal and trying to get that momentum back.”
2. Learn from last Game 5
The Oilers enter this game exactly as they did during the Western second round, tied 2-2 against the Vancouver Canucks. They lost 3-2 in that Game 5, when Canucks center J.T. Miller scored with 33 seconds remaining in the third period. Edmonton came back to win the next two games to eliminate Vancouver, but wants to apply that experience again here.
“We played a decent game," Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm said, "but that’s the name of the game right now: You can’t play decent, you can’t play good, you have to play great, and you have to do it for a longer period of time than the opposing team is doing.
“I thought we came out of Game 6, Game 7 of that series and showed we had learned some of those lessons and I think sometimes you hit a road bump, you’re going to test your team. You see what you’re made of and I thought that series, that helped us a lot knowing we had to win two straight to move on. Now we’re here again.”
3. Keep on killin’
The penalty kill for each team has dominated the spotlight, especially for Edmonton, which leads all playoff teams in that department at 93.2 percent (the Florida Panthers are next at 88 percent). The Oilers also got the first special-teams goal of this series in Game 4, which proved to be the winning goal when forward Mattias Janmark scored short-handed to give Edmonton a 3-2 lead at 14:31 of the second period.
Each team will look to keep the other's power play off the score sheet. So far, the Oilers are 0-for-6 in the series on the man-advantage and the Stars are 0-for-9.
“I think both PKs have been great,” Dallas defenseman Alexander Petrovic said. “Just getting pressure, knowing what to expect and guys are very focused when it’s their turn to go out there. (They’re) reading off what the good players are doing and I think everyone’s just doing their job really well, the 'D' and the forwards. Both teams are doing a good job on the PK.”
Oilers projected lineup
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Connor McDavid -- Zach Hyman
Ryan McLeod -- Leon Draisaitl -- Corey Perry
Evander Kane -- Adam Henrique -- Dylan Holloway
Mattias Janmark -- Sam Carrick -- Connor Brown
Mattias Ekholm -- Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse -- Brett Kulak
Philip Broberg -- Cody Ceci
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Vincent Desharnais, Warren Foegele, Sam Gagner, Derek Ryan
Injured: Troy Stecher (undisclosed)
Stars projected lineup
Jason Robertson -- Roope Hintz -- Tyler Seguin
Mason Marchment -- Matt Duchene -- Joe Pavelski
Jamie Benn -- Wyatt Johnston -- Logan Stankoven
Ty Dellandrea -- Sam Steel -- Radek Faksa
Thomas Harley -- Miro Heiskanen
Esa Lindell -- Chris Tanev
Ryan Suter -- Alexander Petrovic
Jake Oettinger
Scott Wedgewood
Scratched: Lian Bichsel, Mavrik Bourque, Nils Lundkvist, Derrick Pouliot, Craig Smith
Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body)
Status report
The Oilers are expected to dress the same lineup they used in a 5-2 win in Game 4 on Wednesday. ... The Stars held an optional morning skate Friday. … If Tanev cannot play, Bichsel, a defenseman, could make his NHL debut.
NHL.com independent correspondent Taylor Baird contributed to this report
