Oilers tame Stars to move within win of final

The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Dallas Stars 3-1 in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final on Friday night to take a 3-2 series lead.

The Oilers can advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006 with a win on home ice Sunday night.

Edmonton was in control of Friday's contest, with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scoring a power-play goal in each of the opening two periods before Philip Broberg notched his first-ever NHL playoff marker.

"I've tried to round out my game as my career's gone on," Nugent-Hopkins told the NHL on TNT crew postgame. "I still got lots of room for improvement, so I try to be a coachable player and just do what I can to help out."

Leon Draisaitl praised Nugent-Hopkins prior to Game 5, joking about his veteran teammate being coach Kris Knoblauch's favorite player. Following Friday's performance, it seems Draisaitl may have been right.

"I saw Ryan and told him tonight he's my favorite," Knoblauch said, per The Athletic's Daniel Nugent-Bowman.

Wyatt Johnston scored the Stars' only goal with five minutes remaining in the third period.

Edmonton limited Dallas to only 10 shots through the first two periods and commanded 60% of the scoring chances and 56.2% of the expected goals at five-on-five for the contest, according to Natural Stat Trick.

The Oilers have flipped the series script since losing Game 3. The Stars looked to be in control after jumping out to an early 2-0 lead in Game 4, but Edmonton has outscored the top-seeded Stars 8-1 since.

The puck drops for Game 6 at 8 p.m. ET Sunday.

"It's going to be buzzing," Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner told Sportsnet.

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