GAME RECAP: Oilers 5, Stars 2 (Game 4) | Edmonton Oilers

EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers showed their resolve on Wednesday by scoring five unanswered goals to overturn an early two-goal deficit and claim a 5-2 victory over the Dallas Stars in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final, evening the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.

“I think every win gives you a little bit more belief, but I said a couple of days ago that I think every team at this point of the year that’s still playing has a lot of belief in what they do. I think we’re obviously one of those teams,” Leon Draisaitl said.

“We know how good we can be, and when we put everything together, we’re a really hard team to beat, but so are all the other three teams that are still playing. Four really good teams are still playing, and we’re one of them.”

After the Stars held the early momentum and scored twice in the opening 5:29 of regulation, the Oilers tied the game off tallies from Ryan McLeod and Evan Bouchard near the end of the first period before they took over during a 51-second stretch of the middle frame behind Mattias Janmark’s short-handed goal and Leon Draisaitl’s 10th of the playoffs.

“It’s funny in the playoffs how the psychology works,” Draisaitl said. “It was a really flat start from us, but right after they scored that second one, we said we were in that position two days ago and ‘Let’s flip the script on them.’

“You get the first one, and then you get rolling from there. It’s hard to explain why it works that way, but it’s nice to be able to do that.”

The Oilers pushed their successful penalty-kill streak to 23 in a row on a crucial kill late in the third period, with Janmark’s short-handed goal ultimately going down as the game-winner before Mattias Ekholm added an empty-net goal in the final two minutes of regulation.

Stuart Skinner made 20 saves on 22 shots to pick up the victory, and captain Connor McDavid chipped in with three assists.

The Oilers received secondary contributions from all over on Wednesday night, including Ryan McLeod and Corey Perry chipping in with points after being re-inserted into the lineup for Edmonton’s Game 4 victory.

“When you do get pulled out of the lineup, it’s a tough pill to swallow, but you put that aside and when you get your name does get called again, you come in and just work hard,” Perry said. “For myself and Clouder, it was about being hard on the puck, winning our battles and that’s all we’re trying to do.”

The series shifts back to Dallas for Game 5 at American Airlines Center on Friday.