The Edmonton Oilers and the Dallas Stars meet Friday in Game 5 Western Conference NHL Playoffs Conference Finals action at the American Airlines Center. Here’s an Oilers vs. Stars prediction.

Game Four Recap: Oilers Make It A Best-Of-3

The Edmonton Oilers will look to steal home ice back after emerging victorious in game four with an emphatic 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars. Dallas jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, with Wyatt Johnston opening the scoring in the opening minute and Esa Lindell making it 2-0 Dallas just 4:31 later. Ryan McLeod would pull one back at the 13:30 mark of the 1^st and Evan Bouchard would tie the game at two for Edmonton just 2:47 later. The 2-2 tie held for much of the second period before Mattias Janmark and Leon Draisaitl scored :51 apart to give the Oilers a 3-2 and 4-2 lead. The 4-2 score would hold for most of the 3^rd before Mattias Ekholm sealed the win for Edmonton with an empty-netter with 1:53 to go in the game. Stuart Skinner got the win in goal for Edmonton after stopping 20 of 22 shots faced in the win while Jake Oettinger took the loss for the Stars after allowing 4 goals on 28 shots faced in the defeat.

Edmonton Oilers Player Stats

Connor McDavid leads the Oilers in scoring with 132 points including a team-high 100 assists while Leon Draisaitl has 106 points with 41 goals and 65 assists. Zach Hyman has 77 points with a team-high 54 goals while Evan Bouchard has 82 points with 18 goals and 64 assists as well. Evander Kane has 44 points with 24 goals and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has 67 points with 49 assists this season. Stuart Skinner is 36-16-5 with a 2.62 GAA and a .905 save percentage while Calvin Pickard is 12-7-1 with a 2.45 GAA and a .909 save percentage this season.

Why the Edmonton Oilers will win

• The Oilers have won each of their last five Friday games as underdogs.
• The Stars have lost two of their last three games as favorites.
• The Stars have failed to cover the puck line in 10 of their last 12 night games at American Airlines Center.
• The underdogs have covered the puck line in eight of the Stars’ last 10 games at American Airlines Center.
• The Stars have lost the second period in each of their last three games as favorites following a road loss.

Dallas Stars Player Stats

Jason Robertson leads the Stars in scoring with 80 points including a team-high 51 assists while Joe Pavelski has 67 points with 27 goals and 40 assists. Roope Hintz has 65 points with 30 goals of his own and 35 assists and Matt Duchene has 65 points with 40 assists. Wyatt Johnston also has 65 points with a team-high 32 goals and 33 assists. Jake Oettinger has posted an 35-14-4 record in goal for Dallas with a 2.72 GAA and a .905 save percentage while Scott Wedgewood is 16-7-5 with a 2.85 GAA and an .899 save percentage.

Why the Dallas Stars will win

• The Stars have won each of their last five home games following a road loss.
• The Oilers have lost five of their last six games following a home win.
• The Oilers have failed to cover the puck line in each of their last six games following a home win.
• The Stars have covered the puck line in three of their last four night games following a road loss.
• The Oilers have lost the third period in each of their last six night games at American Airlines Center following a win.

Oilers vs. Stars Prediction

I’m on the Stars here. I may sound like a broken record here, but the Stars for me are just the deeper team and I really favor them in goal despite Oettinger’s performance in game four. I don’t see the Stars having too much of a hangover here, especially since going to Edmonton down 3-2 in a series is not a recipe for success as Edmonton’s been one of the better home teams in the NHL this season. If the Stars lose this one, they could be in trouble. I’m going for Dallas in this one to put the Oilers on the hot seat.