EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers are going into Game 5 of the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC) with full intentions of ending the best-of-7 series and going to the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive season.
They’ve rebounded from a 6-3 loss in Game 1 with three straight wins by a combined score of 13-2 and want no part in giving any life to a talented Stars team that won Game 7 of the first round against the Colorado Avalanche and eliminated the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets from the second round in six.
The Oilers came back from down 2-0 in the first round against the Los Angeles Kings to win in six and then defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in five. They know how to close out a series quickly and will have to eliminate the Stars without Zach Hyman, a forward likely out for the remainder of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with an upper-body injury.
“We have a good record when we’ve been in those situations,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “I’m confident with our guys being mature. They’re experienced. They don’t get too high or too low. It’s not that they would ever think that we’ve got this under wraps. That is definitely never the case with this team.
“They know how hard it is to win that last deciding game, and they also have a lot of respect for the Dallas Stars, knowing that they’re a good team who can certainly turn it up. They turned around a series in the first round against Colorado.”
The key behind a return trip to the Final is focusing on themselves more than on what their opponent is doing.
“Going back to our team, I think we’re just even-keeled,” Knoblauch said. “We don’t get too high, too low. And we know how important that next game is.”
They also realize there are no guarantees, and nothing in at least the next 60 minutes is predicated on anything that’s happened so far.
“I think momentum ends as soon as the game’s done,” Knoblauch said. “It’s a new game. No matter what happens, whether it’s a heartbreaking loss, an overtime win or a blowout, I think it gets reset. I don’t think that momentum carries from game to game.”
Especially when one team finds itself in a win-or-go-home scenario. The Oilers know what that feels like. They rallied from down 3-0 against the Florida Panthers in the 2024 Final before a 2-1 loss in Game 7.
“When your back’s against the wall, we saw it several times last year, and it brought out the best of our team, playing with a lot of desperation and focus and just laying it on the line every single shift,” Knoblauch said. “It’s important for us. We can’t control what the other team’s going to do, but what we can control is how we play and how we handle those circumstances. And we know Dallas will come out with a lot of urgency, playing at home and the atmosphere that they have there. We’re going to have to be prepared.
“Certainly, we can’t have a start like we did last night. We’re very fortunate to survive that and come out of the first period with the lead, but if we play another first period like that, we’re probably playing down, and pretty tough to overcome that. We’re going to have to make sure that we’re ready right from the start.”
There is a backdrop to Game 5 in Dallas that could also present a danger to the Oilers with the way things are shaping up in the Eastern Conference Final. The Panthers eliminated the Carolina Hurricanes with a 5-3 win in Game 5 on Wednesday, but Knoblauch doesn’t expect his team to get caught looking too far ahead at a potential Stanley Cup Final rematch against the defending champions.
“I don’t even know what’s going on in the East,” Knoblauch said. “I know we’ve got a heck of a series here against Dallas, and we have one more win to get to. If we’re fortunate to get that last win, then we’ll be preparing for that next team. But right now, all our attention is on the Dallas Stars.”
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