The Edmonton Oilers had their backs against the wall going into game 4, but they were able to defeat the Dallas Stars to tie the series at two games a piece. The way the played on Wednesday was hopefully a sign the Oilers roster that they can indeed beat the Stars, but only if they play a full 60 minutes. Giving the Stars any sense of life in these games is something the Oilers can not afford to do.
With game 5 taking place tonight in Dallas the Oilers will have to at least win one more game on the road if they hope to make it to the Stanely Cup Final. Having already won one game on the road, the Oilers know that they can do it, they just need to do it again and preferably they do it tonight. The Oilers do not want to give the Stars a chance to eliminate them in game 6 cause that would mean the Oilers would need to win two in a row with the chance of their season endsing.
While tonight may not be an actual must-win game, it would be nice to see the Oilers show that they can put together 2 complete games in a row against a team as strong as the Dallas Stars. If they have any hope of winning the cup, they will have to play pretty much mistake-free hockey the rest of the way.
From the Stars' point of view, I am sure they are unhappy with how they played the majority of game 5. They will need to have a short memory if they hope to win the series. The biggest concern for the Stars is the health of one of their top defenceman, Chris Tanev. After blocking an Evander Kane shot in game 4 Tanev went to the Stars room and did not return. This loss would be massive for the Stars, as Tanev is a rock on their back end.
For the Oilers tonight, I do not think they need to change a single thing about the way they played the second half of that game. They did not allow the Stars to get any positive momentum going, and in a series that has had such large momentum swings that was not an easy task.
For the Oilers to win tonight and have a chance to eliminate the Stars on Sunday, they will need to play a full 60 minutes and not have any long stretches where they let the Stars control the gameplay. The Stars will get their chances but the Oilers need to keep those chances few and far between if they hope to secure the win.