Edmonton 1 win from rematch with Florida for Stanley Cup; Dallas 'digging in' to stay alive
© Sam Hodde/Getty Images
DALLAS — The Dallas Stars have never come back from a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-7 series.
Sixteen times they have faced that climb. Sixteen times they have failed to reach the summit.
They are ready to change their history despite the daunting numbers. It starts against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final at American Airlines Center on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).
In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, 356 teams have trailed a best-of-7 series 3-1 and 32 (0.9 percent) have found a way to advance.
The Carolina Hurricanes were looking to stay alive in the Eastern Conference Final, but lost Game 5 to the Florida Panthers 5-3 on Wednesday.
To make a comeback a reality, the Stars will have to start with a win here and then replicate it two days later in Edmonton to force a winner-take-all Game 7 on home ice Monday.
“The message is everybody goes through adversity on this trail,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “Adversity comes with this and it’s digging in and finding a way.”
The numbers for a win in Game 5 are a bit more friendly.
The Stars have won each of their past four Game 5s when trailing 3-1 in a series dating to the 2007 conference quarterfinals and are 8-4 in their past 12 games when facing elimination since the 2020 second round. They have only lost four straight games in a series three times in their history and not since the 2001 conference semifinals, a four-game sweep to St. Louis Blues.
Last season, the Stars lost the first two games of the opening round against the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights and came back to win in seven.
“Every team that wins at the end of the day has a moment in time where it doesn’t look good, Stars forward Matt Duchene said. “And right now that’s ours. So, last year, when we went there, I remember after Game 2 feeling like ‘Man, could this be over this quickly? Like, after a great year, could this be over? Let’s go out and hang out three in a row.’ So, we’ve done it before.”
Oilers: Edmonton loses a vital piece for Game 5 but adds another important one back into the lineup. Forward Zach Hyman is out for the remainder of the playoffs after sustaining an upper-body injury in Game 4 and having surgery Wednesday. Defenseman Mattias Ekholm, who has played one game since March 26 because of lower-body injury, makes his return. “Obviously, it’s extremely disappointing to lose ‘Hy,’ devastated for him,” captain Connor McDavid said. “He’s a guy that wants to be out there and wants to make a difference, so we will miss him a lot. Great to see ‘Ekkie’ come back. He’s put in a lot of hard work to get to this point.” Hyman, whose 16 goals led the 2024 playoffs, had 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 15 games and leads the 2025 postseason in hits (111).
Stars: They’re displaying the right frame of mind to get back into the series, but know they have to show it after being outscored 13-2 in the past three games. The Stars have dominated play at different points but haven’t been able to solve Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner on a regular basis. “When pucks don’t go in, you maybe get a little frustrated and want to change the way we do things, but we’ve been here before,” defenseman Thomas Harley said. “We are professionals and we have to do the right things, and that’s putting pucks at the net and eventually it’s going to go in.”
Number to know: Skinner has been historically good in these playoffs. His .985 save percentage in wins is the best in a postseason with a minimum of five games. His 0.39 goals-against average in wins is the lowest since 1943-44 and third-lowest in one playoff year in NHL history (minimum five games).
What to watch for: Special teams. Since Dallas scored three power-play goals in their 6-3 comeback win in Game 1, Edmonton has won the special teams battle handily. The Oilers have four power-play goals in their past three games, including two in a 6-1 win in Game 4 on Tuesday, when Corey Perry scored the game-winner on the man-advantage. Edmonton is 4-for-11 (36.4 percent) since Game 1, while Dallas is 1-for-8 (12.5 percent). “Anytime you are giving up goals on the kill, it’s a little bit of everything,” DeBoer said. “Listen, you have to give them credit. It shouldn’t be surprising. One of the best power plays in the League over the past few years, particularly at home. It’s a tough one to deal with.”
FLA vs. CAR | EDM vs. DAL
FLA vs. TOR | CAR vs. WSH | DAL vs. WPG | EDM vs. VGK
OTT vs. TOR | FLA vs. TBL | MTL vs. WSH | NJD vs. CAR
STL vs. WPG | COL vs. DAL | MIN vs. VGK | EDM vs. LAK
“Jeff is an outstanding professional. What you want from a player, he has brought it. Outstanding attitude. It’s unfortunate he’s only played one game in the playoffs and probably a little unfair to him.” — Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch on Jeff Skinner, who replaces Hyman
“I think it’s spoonfuls. It’s not mouthfuls. It’s one shift at a time, one period, one game. Obviously, it’s backs against the wall for us, but we have confidence in our group. I think a lot of our game has been really good. It’s just been finishing. We’ve had some, if you want to call it that, tough puck luck. I mean, eight goal posts in the past two games is not ideal but that’s the way it goes sometimes. And you’ve got to fight through it. We’ve all got to find ways to break through and produce more.” — Stars forward Matt Duchene
Oilers projected lineup
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Connor McDavid — Corey Perry
Evander Kane — Leon Draisaitl — Kasperi Kapanen
Jeff Skinner — Adam Henrique — Trent Frederic
Vasily Podkolzin — Mattias Janmark — Viktor Arvidsson
Mattias Ekholm — Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse — Brett Kulak
Jake Walman — John Klingberg
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Joshua Brown, Cam Dineen, Ty Emberson, Max Jones, Derek Ryan, Troy Stecher
Injured: Connor Brown (undisclosed), Zach Hyman (upper body)
Stars projected lineup
Mikael Granlund — Roope Hintz — Mikko Rantanen
Mason Marchment — Matt Duchene — Tyler Seguin
Jamie Benn — Wyatt Johnston — Jason Robertson
Oskar Back — Sam Steel — Colin Blackwell
Esa Lindell — Miro Heiskanen
Thomas Harley — Cody Ceci
Lian Bichsel — Alexander Petrovic
Jake Oettinger
Casey DeSmith
Scratched: Oskar Back, Mavrik Bourque, Mathew Dumba, Ilya Lyubushkin, Brendan Smith
Injured: Nils Lundkvist (shoulder)
Status report
The Stars held an optional morning skate. There is a possibility Bourque, a forward, could enter the lineup to provide offense.
NHL.com independent correspondent Taylor Baird contributed to this report
