North Stars End Reign of Oilers : NHL playoffs: Bobby Smith’s third-period goal sends Minnesota on its improbable way to the Stanley Cup finals.

The Minnesota North Stars’ incredible playoff journey is three-fourths complete. Edmonton’s ride as NHL champion is over.

“Our players are ecstatic,” North Star Coach Bob Gainey said after a 3-2 victory Friday night gave gave Minnesota a five-game playoff triumph and a ticket to the Stanley Cup finals for the second time in the franchise’s 24-year history. “We got there because we earned our way there.

“(At the start of the season), it was too far out of our realism to think about going to the Stanley Cup finals. We had goals. Some of them, when you now look at them, were very small goals. But a marathon starts with one step.”

Bobby Smith broke a tie with 15:01 to play, 41 seconds after Mark Messier had tied the score.

“Between the second and third period, I asked Bob if he could give us a good period in the third. He said he would. And that’s what he did,” Gainey said. “I wasn’t worried about the answer. Never ask a question unless you’re sure of the answer.”

Edmonton’s first failure in seven trips to the semifinals guarantees the first championship series between U.S.-based teams since 1981, when Minnesota lost to the New York Islanders.

Pittsburgh leads Boston, 3-2, and plays host to Game 6 tonight in the other semifinal series.

In the nine finals since Minnesota’s appearance, Edmonton went six times, winning the Stanley Cup in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990.

But through attrition, trades and defections, the Oilers have lost superstars such as Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey and Andy Moog. The nucleus that remains from their glory years has aged.

Edmonton finished at .500 during the regular season and its playoff victories over Calgary and the Kings were considered surprises.

“When you lose, there’s got to be changes. When we won in the past there have been changes,” said Messier, the team captain and one of five Oilers with five championship rings. “This year, it’s obviously going to be a busy summer.”

Said North Star owner Norman Green: “They had their moment in the sun and now it’s time to share it. No, I don’t feel sad for Edmonton.”

Minnesota’s postseason success has been stunning. The NHL’s 16th-best regular-season team has beaten the top two clubs, Chicago and St. Louis, as well as the defending champions and needed only 17 games to do so.

The North Stars, who finished 38 points behind Norris Division-leading Chicago with a 27-39-14 record, will be the first losing regular-season team to play for the title since Vancouver in 1982. Only two teams with losing records have won championships: Toronto in 1949 and Chicago in 1938.

“We just did everything right,” Dave Gagner said. “It’s going to take a while to unscramble our brains after this.”

Minnesota, which went into the postseason with only one playoff series victory since being swept by Edmonton in the 1984 semifinals, is the only Norris team since the 1982 divisional realignment to reach the finals.

Smith’s winner was set up when Chris Dahlquist stole the puck from Petr Klima and passed to Stewart Gavin, who led a rush into the Edmonton zone. Gavin fed Smith, who got behind Oiler defensive specialist Esa Tikkanen before beating goalie Grant Fuhr.

Messier had capped Edmonton’s rally from a 2-0 deficit with a goal that brought an otherwise quiet crowd at Northlands Coliseum to its feet. Tikkanen had started the Oilers’ comeback with a goal midway through the second period.

Goals by Mark Tinordi and Marc Bureau gave the North Stars a 2-0 lead in the first period.

Jon Casey, making his Minnesota-record 28th consecutive start in goal, stopped 19 shots. He leads playoff goalies with a 2.63 goals-against average and a 12-4 record.