Oilers striving for 'full 60 minutes' against Stars in Game 5

DALLAS -- The Edmonton Oilers were understandably very happy with the way they rebounded from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Dallas Stars 5-2 in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final on Wednesday.

But Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch was looking at the big picture. Or at least a full game.

“One thing we need to clean up is just having a full 60 minutes,” he said Thursday, one day before the Oilers played the Stars in Game 5 of their best-of-7 series at American Airlines Center in Dallas (8:30 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS). The series is tied 2-2.

“Each team has been having their roller-coaster moments where they’ve played really well and where they can’t generate much.”

Indeed, those moments have been massive fixtures in this series. Scoring surges, or droughts, one team taking over for 10 minutes or a period, maybe even a little more, and then the opposition swinging it the other way.

It's a game of ups and downs, and the Stars and Oilers are just trying to ride them and swing the advantage back to their respective side as quickly as possible.

“In basketball you can call a timeout. In hockey they’re really, really valuable," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. "You need them for coach’s challenges potentially and if you use it up, you’re not allowed to use it. It’s usually on the group to find a way, a big save, a momentum-changing shift.

“You’re going to have some momentum changes in this series because you have two high-scoring teams that don’t need a lot of room, time or looks to score.”

It’s just that those situations have been magnified that much more the past two games. In Game 3, the Oilers had the 2-0 lead after the first period before the Stars stormed back to win 5-3. In Game 4, the Stars were superb in the first half of the first period, until the Oilers started to come back and scored five straight goals.

“They’re a great team. They’re going to make pushes,” Dallas defenseman Thomas Harley said. “They have (forwards Connor) McDavid, (Leon) Draisaitl. They have great players who are going to take over shifts. You just have to stop it at one, not let them get rolling two and three shifts in a row. You have to keep pushing back but it’s a loud building out there. They get momentum going, it’s tough to stop.”

Draisaitl scored his 10th goal of these Stanley Cup Playoffs, and McDavid had three assists (he has 24 in the playoffs) in Edmonton’s Game 4 comeback. As far as dealing with a rowdy crowd goes, Dallas will have the home fans on its side in Game 5. But home has been a mixed bag when it comes to results. As great as the Stars have been on the road this postseason (6-2), they are 4-5 at American Airlines Center.

“I mean, I don’t think our game changes on the road or home,” Harley said. “We just have to bring the same level of detail from the road at home.”

The Oilers are 5-3 on the road in these playoffs. This is the third time since last season they have played Game 5 on the road. Edmonton lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round last year and to the Vancouver Canucks in the second round this year.

A full 60. Can it be done by one team at this juncture in the playoffs? It’s certainly tougher given the caliber of the four teams remaining, but it’s certainly the goal.

“We’d like to have more of a push for 60 minutes, and it’s easy to say, ‘Let’s play 60 minutes’ because we’re playing a pretty good team and they will have their moments,” Knoblauch said. “I think the longer we can have our moments and play our game, that gives us better opportunities to win that game.”