3 Keys: Stars at Golden Knights, Game 5 of Western Conference Final

(C2) Stars at (P1) Golden Knights

Western Conference Final, Game 5

Vegas leads best-of-7 series, 3-1

8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS

LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights have another opportunity to eliminate the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final and advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in their six NHL seasons when the teams meet in Game 5 at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

The Stars avoided elimination in Game 4 with a 3-2 overtime win at American Airlines Center on Thursday when Dallas forward Joe Pavelski scored a power-play goal at 3:18.

The Stars are attempting to become the fifth team in Stanley Cup Playoff history to win a best-of-7 series after a 3-0 deficit, and the first since the Los Angeles Kings in the 2014 Western Conference First Round.

The Golden Knights won the first three games of the series by a combined score of 11-5.

"I don't think anyone anticipated anyone getting swept on either side of things," Vegas defenseman Alec Martinez said Friday. "This is playoff hockey; punches are thrown one way and they're reciprocated. They threw a good one [Thursday] and it's up to us to come back [Saturday], be ready for that and play our A-game, and try to dictate our pace at home."

The Stars will again be without forward Jamie Benn, their captain, who is serving the second of his two-game suspension for cross-checking Golden Knights captain Mark Stone in Game 3. Dallas forward Fredrik Olofsson made his playoff debut in Game 4, filling in for Benn. Olofsson had five shots on goal (second on the Stars behind forward Jason Robertson's 11) in 10:04 of ice time.

"He was great," Dallas center Luke Glendening said Friday. "I give him a ton of credit; he's been working so hard in the gym and it's not easy when you're not in the lineup. I don't know even when his last game was (April 6). ... That's a credit to him for staying ready. It's not an easy position to be in."

RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Stars series coverage]

The Stars are trying to take the series back to Dallas for Game 6 on Monday. Game 7, if necessary, would be here Wednesday.

If the Golden Knights win Saturday, they would open the Stanley Cup Final at home against the Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers on Wednesday; a Stars win Saturday would push the start of the Cup Final to Saturday, June 3.

"If you look at it, could easily be 2-2 or 3-1 us," Dallas forward Mason Marchment said. "We're not about to lay down and let them take it from us. We have a very resilient group and we've been showing that all year."

Here are 3 keys for Game 6:

1. Oettinger needs a steal

If the Stars hope to extend the series, they are going to need goalie Jake Oettinger to have his best game of this round.

Oettinger has a 2.94 goals-against average, .899 save percentage and one shutout in 17 starts in the playoffs and has been pulled for Scott Wedgewood three times. Oettinger got the hook 7:10 into Game 3 after giving up three goals on five shots in a 4-0 loss but bounced back with a strong performance in Game 4, making 37 saves.

"It was a tough loss in Game 3, with all the circumstances around it and I knew our group would respond with a good game, and that's what we did," Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said Friday. "We have to go and do that again."

2. Closing time

Vegas is 2-for-3 when it has a chance to close out a series this postseason.

The Golden Knights are loaded with playoff experience and have won nine postseason series since joining the League as an expansion team in 2017-18, so they are familiar with putting teams away. They don't want the series heading back to Dallas for Game 6.

"We have a mindset that we need to finish it off, again," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We just need to do the little things right to do it and be on time with them. Maybe that's where we could have been better (in Game 4) is right from the get-go, get to your game."

3. The Robertson effect

Robertson has heated up after struggling to score through the first two rounds of the playoffs. The 23-year-old has four goals in four games against the Golden Knights after scoring two goals in the first 13 games.

With Benn out, Robertson (17 points; six goals, 11 assists in 17 games) will need to stay hot in order for the Stars to extend the series.

"Some guys needed to step up in Jamie Benn's absence and we were looking for goals and that's kind of the responsibility I put on myself," Robertson said after Game 4. "I know these playoffs have been tough, but I play with too good of players not to create chances and opportunity and bounces."

Robertson's linemates certainly have the ability to do just that; center Roope Hintz leads all scorers this postseason with 24 points (10 goals, 14 assists) in 17 games, and Pavelski has 13 points (nine goals, four assists) in 12 games. Pavelski's four game-winning goals are tied with Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk for most in the playoffs.

Stars projected lineup

Jason Robertson -- Roope Hintz -- Joe Pavelski

Mason Marchment -- Wyatt Johnston -- Tyler Seguin

Fredrik Olofsson -- Max Domi -- Ty Dellandrea

Luke Glendening -- Radek Faksa -- Joel Kiviranta

Ryan Suter -- Miro Heiskanen

Esa Lindell -- Jani Hakanpaa

Thomas Harley -- Joel Hanley

Jake Oettinger

Scott Wedgewood

Scratched: Mavrik Bourque, Nils Lundkvist, Colin Miller, Rhett Gardner, Riley Tufte

Injured: Evgenii Dadonov (lower body)

Suspended: Jamie Benn

Golden Knights projected lineup

Ivan Barbashev -- Jack Eichel -- Jonathan Marchessault

Reilly Smith -- William Karlsson -- Nicolas Roy

Brett Howden -- Chandler Stephenson -- Mark Stone

William Carrier -- Teddy Blueger -- Keegan Kolesar

Alec Martinez -- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague -- Zach Whitecloud

Adin Hill

Jonathan Quick

Scratched: Michael Amadio, Paul Cotter, Ben Hutton, Phil Kessel, Kaedan Korczak , Brayden Pachal

Injured: Laurent Brossoit (lower body), Logan Thompson (undisclosed)

Status report

Neither team held a morning skate Saturday. ... Dadonov, a forward, did not make the trip, but DeBoer did not rule him out for the remainder of the playoffs. ... Neither team is expected to make any lineup changes from Game 4.

NHL.com independent correspondent Paul Delos Santos contributed to this report