Nugent-Hopkins, Oilers defeat Stars in Game 5 

DALLAS -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice on the power play, helping the Edmonton Oilers defeat the Dallas Stars 3-1 in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final at American Airlines Center on Friday.

“He gets asked to do so much on this team, whether it’s on the kill, big draws on the kill, he’s got a big responsibility on the power play,” Edmonton captain Connor McDavid said. “He’s asked to do everything and always delivers, and tonight was big. He was awesome.” 

The Oilers lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 and can advance to the Stanley Cup Final with a victory in Game 6 at home Sunday (8 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MAX).

“The crowd is going to be buzzing, for sure. They’re going to be loud, and they’re going to be excited,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “For us, it’s about controlling the emotions, playing within ourselves and trusting our game is good enough to get the job done.”

Evan Bouchard had two assists, and Stuart Skinner made 19 saves for Edmonton, which is the No. 2 seed from the Pacific Division.

“We’re never going to play a 60-minute game in this point of the season where you dominate and you’re the better team. It just doesn’t happen. The other team just has too much to say, and they’re a good team.” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “[Tonight] might’ve been our best 60-minute effort. We’re going to need more of that for Game 6. Dallas is a very good team on the road. We’ve treated this game the same as last game as a must-win game. Game 6 will be a must-win game for us.”

Wyatt Johnston scored, and Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for Dallas, which is the No. 1 seed from the Central Division.

“Really good road game by them,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “They got two power play goals, a seeing-eye goal off a draw, goalie made some big saves when they needed to. That’s a good formula to win on the road. We’re the best road team in the League, playoffs and regular season (32-12-5). We’ve got to win one road game.”

Nugent-Hopkins put Edmonton ahead 1-0 at 14:09 of the first period when he backhanded a rebound from the left of the crease.

“He is one of the best two-way players in the League,” Skinner said. “It’s pretty remarkable what this guy does, his work ethic day in and day out. But I’m more impressed with just the type of person that he is. When he’s off the ice, the type of leader that he is. As a young guy, he was obviously my favorite player growing up, and being able to play with him, I’ve learned that there’s a lot more to him than just hockey. That’s one of the coolest things I’ve been able to watch and become great friends with this guy.”

Nugent-Hopkins extended the lead to 2-0 at 1:06 of the second period on a wrist shot from the high slot that went in off the right post.

“It looks like we were on our heels a little too much,” Dallas forward Matt Duchene said. “Sometimes when you want something so bad, you want to try and be too perfect. We’ve been in this situation before. We’ve had a Game 7 already (a 2-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round). This team we’re playing has had the same situation that we’re going into right now (trailing its second-round series against the Vancouver Canucks 3-2). This team, we’re never out of it. We’ve got a great hockey team and a lot of character in this room, and there will be no quit.”

Philip Broberg pushed it to 3-0 at 5:09 with the first Stanley Cup Playoff goal of his career in his 12th postseason game. His one-timer from the blue line through traffic beat Oettinger high to the glove side.

Johnston cut it to 3-1 at 14:09 of the third period when he deflected a Thomas Harley point shot at the top of the crease.

“They’ve done a good job these last two games. I don’t think we’ve done our best,” Johnston said. “All that matters is making sure we’re ready to go next game. We have the confidence that if we can play our best game, we can beat anyone. It’s just a matter of us doing that next game, putting our best game on the ice and having that desperation level. We have that confidence to do that.”

Dallas forward Tyler Seguin said of the must-win game at Edmonton, “This is the fun part. What do you have to lose here? We’ve taken pride in how we’ve been on the road all year, so let’s do it.”

NOTES: Edmonton was 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and has killed off 25 straight penalties. It last allowed a power-play goal in a 4-3 loss to the Canucks in Game 3. … McDavid got his 25th assist of these playoffs and is tied for the fifth-most in Oilers history in a single postseason, behind Wayne Gretzky (31 in 1988; 30 in 1985; 29 in 1987; and 26 in 1983). Leon Draisaitl (2022) and Paul Coffey (1985) also each had 25 assists in a playoff year. … Bouchard (45 games) became the third-fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach 50 playoff points, behind Brian Leetch (41) and Bobby Orr (39). Bouchard has 51 points (13 goals, 38 assists). … Dallas defenseman Chris Tanev had four blocked shots in 19:12 of ice time after being a game-time decision. He sustained a lower-body injury blocking a shot off his foot in Game 4. … Johnston became the fifth active player to score 10 goals in a playoff year at age 21 or younger, joining Sidney Crosby (15 in 2009), Nikita Kucherov (10 in 2015), Patrick Kane (10 in 2010) and Evgeni Malkin (10 in 2008).