Oilers eye chance to wrap up West final in Game 5

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

Edmonton Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (93) celebrates his goal with teammate Connor McDavid (97) as Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) and defenseman Esa Lindell (23) look on during the second period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on May 21 in Dallas. LM OTERO — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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By Stephen Hawkins

The Associated Press

DALLAS >> The Dallas Stars are back home and on the verge of their season ending in the Western Conference final for the third year in a row — especially if they don’t start scoring goals again like they did all season.

“We’re generating chances, and it just hasn’t been going in,” Stars forward Sam Steel said Wednesday. “I don’t think we can focus on that too much, or complain about how pucks aren’t going in. We know the recipe and we’re looking to get back to it.”

Dallas is back home for Game 5 on Thursday night, down 3-1 to the Edmonton Oilers after scoring only two goals while losing three consecutive games.

For Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid and the Oilers, this is their first chance at a series clincher. They are trying to advance to their second Stanley Cup Final in a row, and again eliminate the Stars on the way.

“We’ve got a heck of a series here against Dallas, and we have one more win to get too. If we’re fortunate to get that last win, then we’ll be preparing for that next team,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said when asked if there was any worry of his players peeking ahead. “But right now, all our attention is on the Dallas Stars.”

Take out their five-goal outburst in the third period for a 6-3 win in Game 1, with three power-play goals in a 5 1/2-minute span, and the Stars have been outscored 16-3 the other 11 periods in this series.

This is the same Dallas team that ranked third in the NHL and matched Winnipeg atop the West with 3.35 goals a game in the regular season, and was shut out only once. The Stars have four shutout losses this postseason, including in Game 2 their last time at home.

Dallas star forward Mikko Rantanen has gone seven games without a goal since scoring nine in a six-game span over their first two rounds. His only longer postseason drought was in the first eight playoff games of his career, in 2018 and 2019 with Colorado.

Done in 5?>> Edmonton has the opportunity for its second consecutive series clincher in a Game 5 on the road, just eight nights after wrapping up the second round with a 1-0 overtime win at Vegas.

The Stars have had only one playoff series since 2006 that went fewer than six games. That was when they won the Western Conference final in five games over the DeBoer-coached Golden Knights in the 2020 playoffs.

Missing Hyman>> Hard-hitting Oilers forward Zach Hyman was scheduled for surgery for an undisclosed injury to his right arm. While not providing additional details on the nature of the injury, Knoblauch said Wednesday that Hyman is “mostly likely done” for the remainder of the postseason.