Edmonton has beat Dallas due to goaltending, has beat Dallas due to even-strength scoring, and has now beat Dallas due to specialty teams.

The Dallas Stars are running out of options.

Game 4 started contentiously – Corey Perry was slashed with no call, and soon after Dallas went to the powerplay on a weak hooking call. The Oilers PK prevented any serious chances from developing and kept the Stars out of the net. A couple extra calls were missed for the Oilers – including a late hit that sent Hyman off the bench – and the Edmonton crowd was rabid, but the Oilers stayed calm and persevered through the adversity.

Eventually, Jamie Benn tripped John Klingberg and justice would be served.

Dallas brought pressure while short-handed pressure into Edmonton’s end, but the Oilers retrieved the puck and attacked the Dallas zone. Leon Draisaitl found Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the slot; Nugent-Hopkins contemplated shooting but opted for a pass back to Draisaitl who rocketed a one timer for the first goal of the night.

Shortly after, Dallas should have been called for interference, but were instead sent back to the powerplay after roughing was called during post-whistle scrum. The Stars powerplay carried over to the second period where the Oilers would finish the kill off with relative ease.

The Stars were given another powerplay after Corey Perry set a pick for Draisaitl. It was called interference, and Jason Robertson would get a quick goal through a confused looking PK squad to tie the game.

Mason Marchement decided to copy Corey Perry’s pick play a minute later; The refs were legally obligated to call interference, as they had just called the exact same infraction not two minutes previously. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins found Corey Perry in front of the net for a tap in goal to make the score 2-1.

Halfway into the third period the shots were 8-1 in favor of the Oilers – Dallas looked gassed. Troy Stetcher fumbled the puck in the slot, but there wasn’t a Star on the ice with enough energy to capitalize on it. After chasing the majority of the game with no success, Dallas was spent.

The Stars pulled Jake Oettinger, but lost a faceoff draw; Kasperi Kapanen sprinted down the ice and escorted the puck all the way into the net to secure the insurance goal. Adam Henrique followed up with a second empty-netter to make the game 4-1 Oilers with 50 seconds left to play.

The story of this series so far has been: stay out of the box, because the Dallas power play will burn you. That wasn’t the case in Game 4. Minus the late empty netters, both of Edmonton’s goals came from the odd-man advantage, and the Oilers killed 3 of 4 penalties. On top of that the Oilers continued to play their smothering 5-on-5 game and wore Dallas down in the third before they could mount a comeback.

Not to mention, Stuart Skinner played another clutch game with a 0.966 SV.

The Edmonton Oilers have now won their third in a row and secured a crucial 3-1 lead in the series. They have an opportunity to win the Western Conference Final on the road when they face off against Dallas Thursday night.