The Edmonton Oilers put the Dallas Stars on the brink of elimination

The Dallas Stars decided to take the night off tonight, and they paid the price. The Oilers now have control of the series after their 3-1 win against the Stars. They have a 3-2 series lead and can punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals with a win on Sunday night. The Stars have got to find the fight that they had in the first two rounds of the playoffs this season. Their season is on the line, and they don't have any room for error.

The Stars aren't alone in the boat right now. If you look at what's happening in the Eastern Conference Finals, the New York Rangers are also trailing 3-2 going into game six. There is still a chance Dallas has a couple more tricks up their sleeve to pull out a Western Conference Title this season. However, they must use those tricks in games six and seven or enjoy watching the Stanley Cup Finals from home next weekend. Here are the three takeaways from the loss tonight against the Oilers.

Dallas Stars vs. Edmonton Oilers: 3. Oilers shut down the middle of their zone

The one thing I noticed while watching the game was the Oilers took away the middle of the zone from the Stars. Dallas couldn't get anything going on offense since the Oilers forced them outside with the puck. The Oilers were then able to intercept any passes and carry the puck into the Stars' zone. That's how the Oilers were able to shut down the Stars from getting anything going on offense tonight.

Dallas Stars vs. Edmonton Oilers: 2. Special teams, special players

The Stars were also beaten in the special teams category tonight. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two power-play goals on two shots. That's a pretty remarkable stat, which ended up being the difference between both teams tonight. The Stars didn't score on any of their power play attempts and, as a result, are looking at an uphill climb for the remainder of the series. The Stars must find a way to score on the power play, or they will be doing handshakes after game six.

Dallas Stars vs. Edmonton Oilers: 1. Where is Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin?

Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are taking up around 18 million dollars of the salary cap, and I didn't see any effort from either player tonight. I guess both players are content with coming up short in the Western Conference Finals again this season. Fans expected a better effort from both players since they've talked about being resilient throughout the playoffs. It didn't look like they wanted to punch the Oilers in the face tonight. With the season on the line on Sunday, both players better show up and force game seven back in Dallas.

Check out our latest Blackout Dallas Articles