In need of a season-saving win, with a chance to do so in front of their home crowd, the Dallas Stars had as bad a start as possible.

Giving up three goals in the first eight minutes of Game 5 at American Airlines Center Thursday night, the Stars watched their season rapidly come to an end at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference finals, as the Oilers punched their ticket back to the Stanley Cup Final with a 6-3 win.

Edmonton won the final four games of the series and will go on to face the Florida Panthers for a rematch of last year's final.

The Stars' exit comes one game earlier than the last two seasons when they fell in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals each time.

Sports Roundup

Get the latest D-FW sports news, analysis and opinion delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, Kevin Sherrington's A La Carte.

SIGN UP

Or with:

GoogleFacebook

By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Dallas became the first team to reach the Western Conference finals in three consecutive years without winning the Stanley Cup.

Here are five thoughts from the season-ending loss:

AdvertisementHorrific start

The Stars have been unable to start games strong all series, and all postseason, and Thursday may have been their worst start yet.

For the 15th time in 18 games this postseason, the Stars sacrificed the first goal. Mavrik Bourque, who drew into the lineup for the first time since Game 4 of the first round, took a high-sticking penalty 1:47 into the game. It led to a Corey Perry goal less than a minute later.

Advertisement

Mattias Janmark added another goal when he beat the Dallas defense and got space in the slot just over seven minutes into the game.

Advertisement

That led Stars coach Pete DeBoer to use his timeout and bench starting goalie Jake Oettinger. But just 58 seconds later, Jeff Skinner gave the Oilers a 3-0 lead with Casey DeSmith in goal.

The Stars woke up from there and played a much better game after, but it was far too late after digging themselves into a massive hole.

Jake Oettinger's early exit

Oettinger may not have had the best Western Conference finals series, but he did not deserve to be pulled as early as he was.

Advertisement

The Stars goalie allowed two goals on the first two shots he faced, but the first was on a power play where Perry was left wide open in the slot, and the second was a similar Grade-A chance for Janmark.

DeBoer yelled at Oettinger to take a seat during the timeout when he skated back to the crease.

The Stars goalie was a big reason they advanced as far as they did this postseason, posting a .919 save percentage and 2.47 goals-against average through the first two rounds.

But those numbers took a significant dip in the third round, as Oettinger had a .869 save percentage and 3.55 goals-against average through the first four games of the series against Edmonton.

Advertisement

DeSmith allowed three goals and made 17 saves in his second game action of the playoffs.

Jason Robertson stays hot, but it wasn't enough

The Stars needed some of their scorers to get going this series, and Jason Robertson certainly did.

Robertson scored his third and fourth goals in three games to help the Stars rally back from their awful start.

Advertisement

His first came midway through the first period after Wyatt Johnston forced a turnover in the offensive zone.

His second made it a one-score game just 38 seconds into the third period in transition, but Edmonton answered shortly after to make it a two-goal game again.

Robertson finished the playoffs with four goals and two assists in 11 games. He missed the first round against Colorado with a leg injury he suffered in Game 82 of the regular season and spent most of the Winnipeg series getting back up to speed.

But by the Edmonton series, he certainly arrived.

AdvertisementPete DeBoer's conference finals struggles continue

DeBoer has been a part of six of the last seven Western Conference finals, taking the San Jose Sharks, Vegas Golden Knights and Stars there.

But in that stretch, the Stars coach has not advanced past the third round.

DeBoer has made eight conference finals in his career, reaching the Stanley Cup Final in his first two appearances but losing in the last round with the New Jersey Devils and Sharks.

Advertisement

DeBoer has reached the third round in all three of his seasons with the Stars.

While it's an impressive feat that he has been a regular this late in the postseason, it's now an expectation that he reaches this round, and after another disappointing exit, the stakes will be even higher during the final year of his contract in Dallas in 2025-26.

Playoff run ends without much production from key players

While Robertson made his mark late in the Stars' run, a few of their most important players in the regular season remained quiet through the 18-game stretch.

Advertisement

Wyatt Johnston and Matt Duchene, who both scored over 30 goals in the regular season, combined for just five in the playoffs. Johnston finished the postseason -16, and Duchene was -15. Those were by far the worst plus-minuses of any players this postseason.

The Stars also just got a lone goal each from Jamie Benn, Mason Marchment and Evgenii Dadonov, who all scored at least 16 goals in the regular season.

In the series against Edmonton, superstar Mikko Rantanen, who had 16 points through the first two rounds, did not score and totaled just three assists in the five games against Edmonton.

If any of those Dallas scorers could've gotten going, it may have been a different story.

AdvertisementRelated StoriesView MoreNational reaction to Oilers eliminating Stars: Benching Jake Oettinger 'unforgivable'Ugly exit in Western Conference finals raises plenty of questions for Dallas StarsFull coverage: Stars drop Game 5 to Oilers, season ends in Western Conference finals

Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.