3 Keys: Stars at Oilers, Game 6 of Western Conference Final

(1C) STARS at (2P) OILERS

Western Conference Final, Game 6

8 p.m. ET; TNT, truTV, MAX, SN, TVAS

Edmonton leads best-of-7 series 3-2

EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers will try to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006 when they play the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final at Rogers Place on Sunday.

The Oilers defeated the Stars 3-1 on Friday to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Edmonton has outscored Dallas 8-3 over the past two games.

“It’s going to be very difficult,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said of closing out the series. “If we continue to play the way we have in the last five periods, it gives us a good opportunity to win. As well as we’ve played in those five periods, it still might not be good enough to win a hockey game., so we can only control what we can control and hopefully that’s enough.”

The Stars are 6-2 on the road in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and will need that same success away from home to stay alive.

“Everyone knows what’s going on, but yeah, just another game,” Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen said. “We need to get our best game, but at the same time, there’s no panic of anything. Just go out there and play our best game.”

Here are 3 keys for Game 6:

1. Stars PK must respond

Dallas was 6-for-6 on the penalty kill in the series prior to Game 5, when the Oilers (specifically forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) scored twice on the power play in three opportunities.

That proved to be the difference in Game 5. The Oilers have the League’s best power play of teams remaining in the postseason (34.7 percent), and the Stars need to keep it from being a factor Sunday.

“The first one, I think I can do a better job of taking away that lane, not giving that one-timer up from (Oilers defenseman Evan) Bouchard up top,” Stars forward Sam Steel said. “The second one, they caught us on a stretch play. We’re aware of that now and we have to be better, for sure.”

2. Feeding off frenzy

Rogers Place is a raucous atmosphere all the time, but it will be especially boisterous in Game 6. The Oilers want to take advantage of the crazed home crowd, but they also don’t want to get too caught up in the emotions.

“They’re always bringing lots of energy. I’m sure they’ll be excited tonight, but you can definitely feed off it,” Edmonton captain Connor McDavid said. “It definitely brings good energy. “It’s exciting. We love playing in front of our fans. Yeah, we’re excited for the opportunity to bring them a little joy.”

3. Get going fast

The Stars had a tough start to Game 5, not just on the penalty kill but also in other facets, including an inability to generate offense. They’ve got to leave it all out there in Game 6, and that’s what they intend to do.

“We want to go out there and play aggressive,” Dallas captain Jamie Benn said. “Obviously, [we] need to stay out of the box. They’ve got five guys that can work that power play pretty good. It’s not always easy staying out of the box with some of their players, but we’re going to do our best and 5-on-5 we want to probably play a little more aggressive, get our forecheck going early and see where that takes us.”

Stars projected lineup

Jason Robertson -- Roope Hintz -- Tyler Seguin

Mason Marchment -- Matt Duchene -- Joe Pavelski

Jamie Benn -- Wyatt Johnston -- Logan Stankoven

Mavrik Bourque -- Sam Steel -- Evgenii Dadonov

Esa Lindell -- Miro Heiskanen

Thomas Harley -- Chris Tanev

Ryan Suter -- Alex Petrovic

Jake Oettinger

Scott Wedgewood

Scratched: Lian Bichsel, Radek Faksa, Ty Dellandrea, Nils Lundkvist, Derrick Pouliot, Craig Smith

Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body)

Oilers projected lineup

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Connor McDavid -- Zach Hyman

Ryan McLeod -- Leon Draisaitl -- Corey Perry

Dylan Holloway -- Adam Henrique -- Evander Kane

Mattias Janmark -- Derek Ryan -- Connor Brown

Mattias Ekholm -- Evan Bouchard

Darnell Nurse -- Brett Kulak

Philip Broberg -- Cody Ceci

Stuart Skinner

Calvin Pickard

Scratched: Sam Carrick, Vincent Desharnais, Warren Foegele, Sam Gagner

Injured: Troy Stecher (ankle)

Status report

Each team held an optional morning skate Sunday. … The Stars will make one change to their lineup from Game 5, with Bourque coming in for Dellandrea. It will be Bourque’s debut in the Stanley Cup Playoffs; he hasn’t played since making his NHL debut April 6. … Knoblauch said he would also alter his lineup but wouldn’t specify. Edmonton is expected to have Ryan center the fourth line in place of Carrick, a forward … Stecher, a defenseman, had surgery to remove a cyst on his ankle that got infected and is out for the remainder of the playoffs.