Like I said before, I’ll more or less never question the effort of the players and teams that get this far… but you have to admit the Stars looked kind of lifeless, right? I mean, Chris Tanev was back in the lineup. They were back home. They had only lost two games in a row once before all postseason. The ingredients were all there for Dallas to come out strong and play the kind of game they wanted to.

Instead, they were flat, and the Edmonton Oilers got to do what they’ve loved to do against Dallas this series: minimizing shots on Stuart Skinner to makeup for subpar goaltending. The Stars had just ten shots on net the first two periods (4 in the first), which they matched in the third period alone for a game total of 20, their lowest amount of the series. There were times where players would have a clear scoring lane, but would hang onto the puck anyways as if waiting for a better opportunity that never came. “Quality” truthers will talk all about how the count doesn’t matter as much as the scoring chances, but you can’t have a scoring chance unless you actually take a chance to begin with.

Meanwhile Edmonton didn’t exactly unload on Jake Oettinger, but their efforts were enough thanks to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins breaking their power play drought. Twice. The dam finally broke, and I’ll be honest, with the way Dallas was playing, the game already felt over after that second goal — sure, Edmonton had just come back from a 2-0 deficit the game before, but how were the Stars going to manage that if 1) they refused to get the puck on net, and 2) any chances they got on the power play (theoretically their best chances to answer back) weren’t going to amount to anything (they ended up 0-2)?

Of course, the game really felt over after the third goal, which was definitely one Oettinger should have stopped, screen or no screen. But hey, it’s not as if letting in that bad goal really mattered, because again: Dallas wasn’t scoring anyways! At least, not until Wyatt Johnston finally ruined Skinner’s shutout with just under six minutes to go in the game. Which, you know, was fun and all, but too little too late.