Players to watch and one big question for Stars-Oilers heading into Game 5
-
Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
The Edmonton Oilers faced a 2-1 series deficit heading into Game 4, and after two Dallas Stars goals in the first 5:29 of the game, it looked like that could grow to 3-1.
Then the tide turned, significantly.
Ryan McLeod and Evan Bouchard scored in the first, followed by goals from Mattias Janmark and Leon Draisaitl in the second — and an empty-net capper from Mattias Ekholm for good measure. The series is now 2-2 and headed back to Dallas for Game 5 on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT).
What stood out the most from this game? What trends will continue? And who are the key players to monitor with the series now down to a best-of-3?
Oilers grade: A-
Game 4 was the perfect encapsulation of the Oilers.They had a terrible start, going down 2-0 in the first 5:29 of a must-win game. They roared back to score five unanswered goals, controlled play by limiting Dallas to 22 shots, killed two power plays and scored a shorthanded goal. Goalie Stuart Skinner looked like he was about to fall apart but made key saves — including a great one on Tyler Seguin — to ensure Dallas didn’t score that third goal.
No team in the postseason can look as bad and as good as the Oilers, frequently in the same 20 minutes.
Coach Kris Knoblauch also deserves his flowers for shaking up his roster for Game 5. He swapped in forwards Corey Perry and Ryan McLeod, as well as defenseman Philip Broberg; and swapped out forwards Sam Carrick and Warren Foegele, as well as defenseman Vincent Desharnais. Once again, Knoblauch pushed the right buttons: McLeod scored Edmonton’s first goal to cut the Dallas lead to 2-1, on an assist from Perry; and their line with Leon Draisaitl outshot the Stars 6-1 while on the ice at 5-on-5.
The Oilers credit Knoblauch with saving their season. He’s continued those heroics in the playoffs.
1:20
Oilers take lead with 2 goals in 51 seconds
Mattias Janmark and Leon Draisaitl score in less than a minute of each other to give the Oilers a 4-2 lead over the Stars.
Stars grade: C-
Blowing a 2-0 first-period lead wasn’t the problem. Watching the Oilers score two goals in 51 seconds — a Mattias Janmark shorthanded goal and Leon Draisaitl’s 10th of the postseason — wasn’t the problem.
The problem was just how meekly the Stars lost Game 4 in Edmonton. Dallas had one high-danger shot attempt in the third period against Stuart Skinner.
No passion, no pushback. Now the Oilers have new life in the series.
What we learned in Game 4
Goalies can make stick saves even when they don’t have sticks in their hands.
Late in the first period, Stars goalie Jake Oettinger lost his stick while scrambling to make two saves on an Edmonton power play. Oilers winger Zach Hyman nudged the stick with his skate back off of Oettinger, and it eventually settled with the stick blade draped across the goal line.
Connor McDavid got the puck to Oettinger’s right, saw some daylight between the goalie and the net and fired the puck … directly off the abandoned stick and out of harm’s way for Dallas. McDavid had a look of stunned disbelief on the bench in a 2-2 game.
0:46
‘Unbelievable!’ Jake Oettinger’s unattended stick somehow blocks goal
Jake Oettinger’s stick somehow is placed in the right path to block the Oilers from taking a lead in the first period.
According to the NHL’s official scoresheet, it counted as a missed shot by McDavid rather than a save for Oettinger, which we believe is a serious underestimation of Otter’s precognitive powers.
Players to watch in Game 5
Darnell Nurse. The Edmonton defenseman was a target of derision locally after Game 3, with some openly questioning his future with the team based on his ineffectiveness. He was on the ice for the Stars’ first two goals, including an Esa Lindell shot that deflected off Nurse and into the net to make it 2-0.
But he kept battling. He assisted on McLeod’s goal. He was a physical presence. He delivered 12 hits but didn’t take a minor penalty in 19:19 of ice time. It was a critical performance for an important player.
Jason Robertson. Was the Roberts-issance one and done? The Stars winger went 10 playoff games without a goal before tallying a hat trick in Game 3, thanks in part to the return of Roope Hintz. But Robertson was a minus-2 with no points in Game 4, the sixth time in the postseason he was held without a point and the seventh in which he had a minus-rating.
With the Stars still looking for their first power-play goal of the series, they need the Robertson who showed up for Game 3, with the action shifting back to Dallas for Game 5.
Big question for Game 5: Is Chris Tanev OK?
The Stars defenseman blocked an Evander Kane shot with his right foot with 7:38 left in the second period, and did not return to the game with a lower-body injury. A key acquisition at the trade deadline, Tanev has been a critical part of the Stars’ top four on defense, averaging 23:26 of ice time per game.
He has 68 blocked shots to lead all players in the postseason. Dallas is hoping he’ll be available to block a few more in Game 5. If not, it’s a massive blow to the thinnest area of the Stars’ lineup, and could impact their penalty kill, which is the last thing you want against the Oilers.
After the game, coach Pete DeBoer said “fingers crossed” that Tanev is OK for Game 5.
The Carolina Hurricanes have reached a three-year, $9.5 million extension with forward Taylor Hall through the 2027-28 season.
The team announced the signing Wednesday, a day after the Hurricanes closed out the New Jersey Devils in their first-round playoff series. It marked the seventh straight year that Carolina has won at least one postseason series.
Hall, 33, acquired in a blockbuster January deal that included Mikko Rantanen‘s arrival, scored the first of Carolina’s four second-period goals that helped it erase a 3-0 deficit before winning in double overtime. He’s a 15-year veteran who won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP in the 2017-18 season.
“Taylor has proven to be an outstanding fit for our team, and we are thrilled that he is excited to make Raleigh his home for another three seasons,” general manager Eric Tulsky said in a statement. “He’s been a solid veteran presence in the locker room and a difference maker on the ice.”
Hall had 18 goals and 24 assists in 77 regular-season games between Chicago and Carolina, and also had two assists in the five-game series win against New Jersey. He had missed most of the previous season due to knee surgery and was making $6 million this year with free agency looming, then led Carolina skaters with four power-play goals in the regular season after his arrival.
The Hurricanes acquired the 2010 No. 1 overall draft pick on Jan. 24 in the three-team deal that snagged Rantanen from Colorado, though they later sent Rantanen to Dallas with forward Logan Stankoven as the primary trade-deadline return when it became clear Rantanen was unlikely to sign long-term to stay with Carolina.
Hall and Tulsky are scheduled to address reporters by Zoom later Wednesday.
-
Greg Wyshynski
Utah Hockey Club officials wouldn’t confirm whether “Mammoth” was their new name after it allegedly leaked on the team’s official YouTube channel Tuesday night.
Fans and media noticed that the channel’s handle was changed from “@UtahHockeyClub” to “@UtahMammoth,” on both its landing page and URL. The channel was soon deactivated and remained so on Wednesday morning, but not before screenshots of the name change went viral.
Utah Mammoth was one of three finalists featured in a fan vote at Delta Center to help determine the permanent name of the team, which played its inaugural season in 2024-25 after SEG purchased and relocated the former Arizona Coyotes franchise. Fans voted with iPads located at stations around the arena that featured the names, logos and potential branding for each option.
Originally, the three names voted on were Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club and Utah Wasatch, which was quickly swapped out for Utah Outlaws after the team saw early vote returns.
Mammoth made the final four in the initial fan vote last year.
Utah HC executives wouldn’t confirm or deny that Mammoth will be the team’s new nickname.
Mike Maughan, an executive with Utah HC owner Smith Entertainment Group, said on Wednesday that “progress continues on exploring all three of the name options that were chosen as finalists by our fans. We’re fully on track to announce a permanent name and identity ahead of the 25-26 NHL season and look forward to sharing that with our fans when we do.”
When pressed for an explanation on the alleged YouTube leak, Maughan would only say, “We’re fully on track to announce a permanent name and identity ahead of the 25-26 NHL season.”
One NHL source told ESPN that the revelation for the team’s new name and logo could come before the NHL draft in late June. This year’s draft is a “decentralized” event, meaning that teams will be making selections from their own sites rather than in one central location. That opens the door for Utah to have an event in Salt Lake City with team officials around the draft.
In other Utah HC news, the team announced Wednesday that Delta Center, home to Utah HC and the Utah Jazz, will be undergoing a renovation to optimize hockey sightlines while maintaining the proximity of basketball fans to the court using a state-of-the-art retractable seating system. It’s a multiyear project that will also create a new main entrance and outdoor plaza.
The first-of-its-kind seating system accommodates a nearly 12-foot variance in elevation between rink and court endlines to offer optimal sightlines for both the NBA and NHL. Every seat in the lower bowl will have a complete view of the ice at the start of next season — the team estimates that 400 seats currently can only see one goal net during games.
The new hockey configuration adds capacity behind the goals and above and around the event tunnels on the north and south side of the lower bowl and improves access to seating behind the boards.
When all renovations are complete, seating capacity for hockey will increase from 11,131 to approximately 17,000 — with every seat in the upper and lower bowls having full views of both goals — and capacity for basketball will increase from 18,206 to nearly 19,000 seats.
“Delta Center was built for basketball. When you come and put the size of an ice sheet in that venue with those sight lines, the geometry just doesn’t work. So that’s where you come up with the riser system configuration. You come up with raising the floor 2 feet,” said Jim Olson, president of the Jazz and executive representing SEG on all facilities projects.
“We are absolutely protecting the basketball experience, but then also creating a great hockey experience where all the seats can see all the ice,” he said.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway