Before the Oilers send them off with a humiliating cheer straight out of “The Bad News Bears,” the Stars should at least make some noise first. They’ve come this far, might as well stay the weekend. Maybe try something different. Pete DeBoer could work on his game face for Game 5. Mikko Rantanen could remind us why he once looked like a shoo-in for the Conn Smythe.

What the heck, maybe someone could even stick up for Roope Hintz if the Oilers keep treating him like a loblolly pine.

Speaking of which, probably don’t expect much in the way of retaliation Thursday at American Airlines Center. Referencing yet another whack on Hintz in Game 4, DeBoer leveled a shot of his own at Wednesday’s presser when he said, dry as toast, “You don’t see that much outside of junior hockey.”

Take that, Evan Bouchard!

Otherwise, DeBoer said any revenge is better left to the league and officials, who apparently are in no mood to intercede. Probably just as well that the Stars leave it alone. They don’t need Jamie Benn cruising up and down the ice looking for trouble. At least no more than usual. But the least they could do is play with a little edge, especially in the neighborhood of their beleaguered goalie.

One of the players made available to the media Wednesday was Oskar Bäck, the winger from Sweden and a sweet kid. Maybe too much so. When asked about Bouchard’s cheap shot, the expression on Bäck’s handsome face wrinkled into one of genuine dismay.

“That’s not nice of him,” he said, softly.

Even if it’s not their nature to muck it up, the Stars need to stop playing nice. The last thing they want to do is go gently into the dying of another season in the Western Conference finals . They don’t have to go on a rager, but they shouldn’t act as if they’re resigned to their fate, either.

Make the Oilers feel it in Game 5 at AAC, then take the series back to Rogers Place and try to buck the trend. The playoffs shouldn’t end like each of the last three games, with the Stars on their heels and Oilers at their throats.

Until the last couple of weeks, the playoffs have been a deserved reward for the most loyal fan base in the market and a welcome diversion for locals wrecked by the Luka Doncic deal or perplexed by the Rangers’ bumbling start. The Stars can’t bow out just yet. The guys out at the Globe don’t look like they’re ready to carry this civic load by themselves just yet.

Besides, it’s not like the Stars have been tourists in the playoffs. They went through the tough side of the bracket and came out looking ready to break their glass ceiling at last.

Four games later, here they are, on the verge of becoming the first team to make three conference finals in a row and fail to advance since the format was adopted in 1994. Three of the four other teams to make it three straight — Tampa Bay (2020-22), Chicago (2013-15) and the Kings (2012-14) — went on to win a couple of Stanley Cups each. Detroit (2007-09) won it all once.

History says there’s a 91% chance the Oilers will keep the Stars from their second Stanley Cup. As a rule, I don’t argue with history. Same with the consensus that Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are too much for Rantanen and the rest of the Stars, given that’s exactly how it looks.

Only a couple of months ago, everyone patted Jim Nill on the back for acquiring Rantanen and giving a talented offense not only another toy to play with but one of the best on the market. He was fun to watch against the Avs and early against the Jets.

But it all seems a long time ago now. He hasn’t scored in seven games. Seems like everyone but Jason Robertson is waiting for Rantanen to do something. Or for anyone to make the “perfect shot,” as DeBoer put it Wednesday.

Jake Oettinger, whose playoff performances are about as predictable as spring weather in North Texas, needs to come up big again . No question. But it’s also on the people skating around him to set a tone.

What can DeBoer do to shake things up? Probably not as much as you’d like to think. Like every coach these days, DeBoer is a culture guy. He’s built a system and the Stars man it. Like DeBoer told his players Tuesday when Bouchard whacked Hintz’s left ankle — the same ankle Darnell Nurse slashed in Game 2, costing Hintz’s services for a game — they’re not “built” for retaliation.

As Oettinger said earlier in the playoffs, DeBoer and his staff “pounded” a system into them, and now it’s up to them to bring the energy. DeBoer can’t overstep. The players know how badly he wants to win his first Stanley Cup. He doesn’t have to bring it up. He shouldn’t. The players don’t need to worry about winning for their coach. Hockey is hard enough as it is.

“You can get so caught in this trap of playoffs and emotions and sleep,” Tyler Seguin said recently.

“You’ve got to have fun with it.”

Let off a little steam Thursday at AAC, fellas. Play as if you have nothing to lose, because you don’t. No one expects you to win three straight. All we’re asking you to do is save face and buy time. Just make the weekend. June, tops.

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Employed since 1985 by The Dallas Morning News, my fifth and final newspaper. Texas born, raised and steeped. Father of four children, husband of one wife.