The Stars are in the same position that they were in last season when they took on the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Finals. They will take on the Edmonton Oilers later tonight in an elimination game. The Stars can’t look back and think what could have been if they won any of the previous games in this series. Their only task is to win by any means necessary tonight. That means attacking Stuart Skinner to the point that the Oilers pull him from the game.

Everyone has to step up tonight if they want to play in another hockey game back in Dallas on Tuesday. That means veterans like Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Joe Pavelski must find the back of the net tonight. The young talent on the roster must step up as well. Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson, and Wyatt Johnston must find ways to contribute to keeping their postseason run alive. Here are the three keys of the game tonight if the Stars want to force a game seven on Tuesday.

The Stars can’t afford the Oilers to go on the power play tonight. If you remember game five, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins found the back of the net on two straight power plays. The Stars must play clean to achieve that tonight. That means no unnecessary penalties against the Oilers, such as cross-checking a player in the back in front of the head official. If the Stars can stay out of the penalty box tonight, they have a shot of forcing game seven back in Dallas on Tuesday night.

Another key to the game is making sure Connor McDavid doesn’t make a difference tonight. Right now, McDavid has the pressure of Canada on his shoulders as they look to be the first Canadian team in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1993. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Miro Heiskanen receive the duties of covering him all night long in the Stars’ zone. If the Stars can shut down Connor McDavid tonight, it could help them win tonight’s game.

Lastly, the Stars must fire the puck at Skinner tonight if they want to force a game seven back in Dallas. They only had six shots on goal midway through game five. That won’t cut it if the Stars want to play the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They must attack the net with relentless force and chase him from the game. The Stars must stop the fancy passing in the Oilers’ zone tonight. If the Stars can pressure Skinner with shots tonight, it could help force a game seven in Dallas.

FC Dallas wrapped up a two-game road trip to Southern California with a second straight loss on Saturday night, losing 1-0 to LAFC.

Denis Bouanga scored the game’s only goal late in the second half to extend LAFC’s unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions, including five straight shutouts in league play.

FC Dallas keeper Maarten Paes ended the night with a career-high nine saves in the match, besting his previous career mark that was set a couple of weeks ago in Tampa Bay during the club’s US Open Cup match. It was also his fourth-straight game with five or more saves.

LAFC’s goal came in the 74th minute, when Mateusz Bogusz collected a pass near the center of the pitch and played a through ball into the path of Bouanga, who raced in behind the Dallas defense before slotting his shot home his tenth of the season.

Instant Reaction: In a way, we shouldn’t be shocked by any of these types of performances anymore out of this club. LAFC is dominant at home and FC Dallas struggles on the road. This type of result was bound to happen. One silver lining may be that the defense, while giving up a lot of shots (17 total, 10 on target) nearly did their job on the night to ‘bend but not break’. Breaking down the two LA games tomorrow is going to be a chore to say the least.

Man of the Match: Paes, no doubt about it.

What’s next for FC Dallas: The club wraps up its three-game road trip next week against Minnesota United.