With the Oilers up 3-2 headed back to Edmonton, here are the key trends to monitor, and the players who will be critical in a possible clinching game.
The Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars entered Game 5 in Dallas tied 2-2 in their Western Conference finals series. The Oilers beat the Stars 3-1 and will head home up 3-2 with a chance to end the series Sunday.
Here’s what stood out from Edmonton’s win and what to look for in Game 6, including key players for each team.
Even the most optimistic supporters of the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference finals probably couldn’t have imagined they’d control play and out-defend the Dallas Stars like they did in Game 5. They limited the Stars to four shots on goal in the first period. Dallas went 9:43 without a shot on goal in the second period.
The Oilers were solid in all three zones, got their killer instinct back on the power play and got every save they needed out of Stuart Skinner, who had one of his best games of the postseason.
They squandered a chance to win Game 5 against Vancouver after building a lead. As they’ve done throughout the playoffs, they learned from their mistakes. «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 were doing it,» defenseman Mattias Ekholm said.
Where was the intensity? The feeding off the crowd? The pushback after a Game 4 where the Oilers dominated, as Ekholm put it, for 52 minutes of a 60 minute game.
«The first two periods weren’t good enough. We have to generate more, obviously.
