Minnesota reduced Dallas to a power play dependent bystander Tuesday night, controlling nearly every meaningful stretch of a 4-2 Game 5 victory at American Airlines Center and pushing the Stars to the edge of elimination.

For long portions of the night, the Stars looked less like a contender protecting home ice and more like a team waiting for a whistle to rescue it. Minnesota owned the pace, won the heavier areas of the game, and repeatedly turned Dallas possessions into one-and-done sequences. At five-on-five, the Wild were faster to loose pucks, cleaner through the neutral zone, and far more purposeful once they entered the offensive end.

Dallas did find life on the man advantage — again. A power play goal pulled the game level, continuing a series trend in which special teams have masked broader problems. Later, with the Stars pressing during late chaos and goaltender Jake Oettinger pulled, they added another during four-on-four play. Officially, it snapped a remarkable stretch in which Dallas had gone 3 hours, 34 minutes, 32 seconds without an even-strength goal. Unofficially, it did little to change what the eye test had already made obvious: Minnesota has smothered this offense when teams are skating five aside.

Across five games, the Wild have outscored the Stars 11-3 at even strength. Numbers like that usually belong to a finished series. Dallas now has one game to prove this one is not.

The Wild blocked 26 shots to Dallas’ nine, won more faceoffs, delivered more hits, and carried a significant shots advantage until desperation time inflated the Stars’ totals late. They were disciplined in structure and relentless in effort, the kind of road performance that leaves little room for complaints afterward.

“Everyone needs to step up now, your top guys, your bottom guys,’’ head coach Glen Gulutzan told reporters. “If you’re going to win a series or even multiple series, you need all contributors for it, so we need a little bit more from everybody. Give them credit for some of their blocks. We had some looks that they stopped but we also missed the net on some chances.’’

That is the central issue now. Dallas is five games into a series that may end Thursday, and too many pillars of its attack remain quiet at five-on-five. Wyatt Johnston has managed one even-strength point. Mikko Rantanen has none. With Roope Hintz expected to remain out for Game 6, the Stars have lacked the middle-ice support and transition thrust that normally make them dangerous.

Rantanen pointed to quicker puck movement as a solution, noting that faster decisions would make Minnesota’s shot-blocking structure harder to sustain. He is right, but the challenge is no longer tactical alone. It is emotional now, too.

Dallas must win in St. Paul, where the building is likely to be unhinged from puck drop and where Wild fans sense not only a rival on the ropes, but an end to years of first-round frustration. Minnesota has lost eight straight opening-round series. One more victory buries that history and deepens Dallas’ own.

The Stars can still force a Game 7, and they still have recent memory on their side there. Home wins in deciding games against Seattle, Vegas, and Colorado over the last three postseasons are not ancient history. But that possibility remains theoretical until Dallas solves the more immediate problem in front of it.

It needs an even-strength answer. An early one. A sign that this lineup still has another layer to give beyond waiting for an official’s arm to rise. Because if Tuesday was any indication, Minnesota has already learned exactly how to beat them.