Following just one game on the schedule on Tuesday night, Wednesday night is back to the standard of two games — one of which could be the swan song for a recent Stanley Cup champion.
The first matchup pits the Florida Panthers against the Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m. ET, ESPN); those teams are tied 2-2. In the nightcap, the Vegas Golden Knights host the Edmonton Oilers (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), with the home team hoping to avoid a 4-1 series loss just two seasons after winning it all.
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, a recap of what went down in Tuesday’s game and the Three Stars of Tuesday from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
Florida Panthers at Toronto Maple Leafs
Game 5 | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN
With the series tied 2-2, ESPN BET has the Panthers as the favorites to win the series at -210 compared to +170 for the Leafs. Florida is now +400 to win the Cup, while Toronto is +900.
When a best-of-seven series is tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 has gone on to win the series 79% of the time in Stanley Cup playoffs history.
Each goal that Carter Verhaeghe scores extends his lead atop the franchise leaderboard for career playoff goals; he’s currently at 30, ahead of Sam Reinhart (24), Aleksander Barkov (22) and Matthew Tkachuk (20).
Acquired at the trade deadline from Boston, Brad Marchand has a personal 4-0 record against Toronto in playoff series, and is tied for the third-most points against the Leafs in Stanley Cup playoff history; his 33 are tied with Henri Richard, trailing Alex Delvecchio (35) and Gordie Howe (53).
William Nylander leads Toronto in goals this postseason, with six, and he continues to climb the Leafs’ career playoff goal-scoring leaderboard. With 26, he is tied with Steve Thomas and George Armstrong for fifth on the list; Ted Kennedy is fourth, with 29.
Fellow member of the Core Four Mitch Marner is on the precipice of a career milestone too; with his next assist, he’ll join Doug Gilmour as the only Maple Leafs with 50 or more career playoff assists.
Edmonton Oilers at Vegas Golden Knights
Game 5 | 9:30 p.m. ET | ESPN
The Oilers take a 3-1 lead into Game 5, and ESPN BET has adjusted the series winner odds accordingly; Edmonton is now -1000 to win this series, with the Knights at +550. Edmonton also has the shortest Stanley Cup odds, at +260, while Vegas’ are +3000; only the Capitals have longer odds, at +7500.
When leading a best-of-seven series 3-1, the Oilers have gone on to win 94% of the time in their history; the Knights have never rallied to win a series after trailing 3-1.
Adam Henrique had two goals in the first period of Game 4 after just one goal in the first nine games this postseason. It was his second career multigoal game — the last came in 2012 during the Devils’ run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Connor McDavid assisted on Evander Kane‘s goal in Game 4, extending his assist streak to eight games. That ties Wayne Gretzky (1983) for the third-longest such streak in Oilers postseason history, trailing Leon Draisaitl (2022) and Glenn Anderson (1985), both of whom had a nine-game assist streak in a single postseason.
Vegas’ Mark Stone has 36 career playoff goals, tied with Jonathan Marchessault for the Knights’ franchise playoff record.
Teammate Jack Eichel is getting pucks on net, but he has scored only once this postseason. His 27 shots on goal lead the Knights, but among the 43 players with 20 or more shots on goal this postseason, Eichel’s 3.7% shooting percentage is the lowest.
Öcal’s Three Stars from Tuesday
Granlund scored his first career hat trick to lead the way for Dallas. He now has multiple points in consecutive playoff games within a single postseason for the first time in his career.
The Minnesota native stopped 31 of 32 shots to earn the win. He’s the sixth U.S.-born goalie to win 30 playoff games — Tom Barrasso leads the list, with 60.
The star defenseman had an assist and skated just under 15 minutes in his first game since Jan. 28.
Tuesday’s recap
Dallas Stars 3, Winnipeg Jets 1
DAL leads 3-1 | Game 5 Thursday
For much of the postseason, it has been the Mikko Rantanen show for the Stars. On this night, center stage belonged to another Finn the Stars added in trade during the season. Mikael Granlund scored his first career hat trick — spacing them out nicely with one in each period — which was more than enough to outscore the visiting Jets. Nikolaj Ehlers‘ tally at 1:02 of the second period was the only shot that got past Dallas’ Jake Oettinger, as chants of “Otter’s better!” rained down from the Dallas faithful in the seats to torment Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck. Dallas brings a 3-1 lead to Game 5 in Manitoba, pushing for a third conference finals trip in the past four years. Full recap.
0:19
Jake Oettinger’s save earns rousing ovation from Dallas fans
Stars goalie Jake Oettinger makes a beautiful save early in Game 4 vs. the Jets.
Foreign state investors would be allowed to hold stakes of up to 15% in British national newspapers, ministers are set to announce amid a two-year battle to resolve an impasse over The Daily Telegraph’s ownership.
Sky News has learnt that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport could announce as soon as Thursday that the new limit is to be imposed following a consultation lasting several months.
The decision to set the ownership threshold at 15% follows an intensive lobbying campaign by newspaper industry executives concerned that a permanent outright ban could cut off a vital source of funding to an already-embattled industry.
It would mean that RedBird IMI, the Abu Dhabi state-backed fund which owns an option to take full ownership of the Telegraph titles, would be able to play a role in the newspapers’ future.
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RedBird Capital, the US-based fund, has already said it is exploring the possibility of taking full control of the Telegraph, while IMI would have – if the status quo had been maintained – forced to relinquish any involvement in the right-leaning broadsheets.
One industry source said they had been told to expect a statement from Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, or another DCMS minister, this week, with the amendment potentially being made in the form of a statutory instrument.
Other than RedBird, a number of suitors for the Telegraph have expressed interest but struggled to raise the funding for a deal.
The most notable of these has been Dovid Efune, owner of The New York Sun, who has been trying for months to raise the £550m sought by RedBird IMI to recoup its outlay.
Another potential offer from Todd Boehly, the Chelsea Football Club co-owner, and media tycoon David Montgomery, has yet to materialise.
RedBird IMI paid £600m in 2023 to acquire a call option that was intended to convert into ownership of the Telegraph newspapers and The Spectator magazine.
That objective was thwarted by a change in media ownership laws – which banned any form of foreign state ownership – amid an outcry from parliamentarians.
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The Spectator was then sold last year for £100m to Sir Paul Marshall, the hedge fund billionaire, who has installed Lord Gove, the former cabinet minister, as its editor.
The UAE-based IMI, which is controlled by the UAE’s deputy prime minister and ultimate owner of Manchester City Football Club, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, extended a further £600m to the Barclays to pay off a loan owed to Lloyds Banking Group, with the balance secured against other family-controlled assets.
Other bidders for the Telegraph had included Lord Saatchi, the former advertising mogul, who offered £350m, while Lord Rothermere, the Daily Mail proprietor, pulled out of the bidding last summer amid concerns that he would be blocked on competition grounds.
The Telegraph’s ownership had been left in limbo by a decision taken by Lloyds Banking Group, the principal lender to the Barclay family, to force some of the newspapers’ related corporate entities into a form of insolvency proceedings.
The newspaper auction is being run by Raine Group and Robey Warshaw.
The DCMS declined to comment.
A judge has reduced the Menendez brothers’ murder sentences – meaning they are eligible for parole.
Lyle, 57, and Erik, 54, received life sentences without the possibility of parole after being convicted of murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, at their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
Last year, the then Los Angeles district attorney George Gascon asked a judge to change the brothers’ sentence from life without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life.
Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez leave a courtroom in Santa Monica in August, 1990.
Pic: AP
On Tuesday, Los Angeles County superior court Judge Michael Jesic did so, paving the way for the brothers’ parole and possible release.
The ruling capped off a day-long hearing in which several relatives, a retired judge and a former fellow inmate testified in support of efforts to shorten the brothers’ sentences.
‘I killed my mum and dad’
The brothers appeared at the proceedings in Los Angeles County Superior Court via video feed from prison in San Diego.
“I killed my mum and dad. I make no excuses and also no justification,” Lyle said in a statement to the court. “The impact of my violent actions on my family… is unfathomable.”
Erik also spoke about taking responsibility for his actions and apologising to his family.
He said: “You did not deserve what I did to you, but you inspire me to do better.”
The brothers did not show any apparent emotion during much of the testimony but chuckled when one of their cousins, Diane Hernandez, told the court that Erik received A+ grades in all of his classes during his most recent semester in college.
Lyle (left) and Erik Menendez in a courtroom in 1990.
Pic: AP
Anamaria Baralt, another cousin of the brothers, told the court they had repeatedly expressed remorse for their actions.
“We all, on both sides of the family, believe that 35 years is enough. They are universally forgiven by our family,” she said.
‘They have not come clean’
Los Angeles County prosecutors argued against the resentencing, saying the brothers have not taken complete responsibility for the crime.
The current district attorney Nathan Hochman said he believes the brothers were not ready for resentencing because “they have not come clean” about their crimes.
His office has also said it does not believe they were sexually abused.
“Our position is not ‘no’. It’s not ‘never’. It’s ‘not yet’,” Mr Hochman said. “They have not fully accepted responsibility for all their criminal conduct.”
District attorney Nathan Hochman speaks to the media on Tuesday at the Menendez brothers’ resentencing hearing.
Pic: Reuters
Path to freedom?
“I’m not saying they should be released, it’s not for me to decide,” Judge Jesic said. “I do believe they’ve done enough in the past 35 years, that they should get that chance.”
After the judge’s decision, the brothers now have a new path to freedom after decades in prison.
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They are now eligible for parole under California’s youthful offender law because they committed the crime while under the age of 26.
The state parole board must still decide whether to release them from prison.
While this decision is made, the brothers will remain behind bars.
During the original trial, prosecutors accused the brothers of killing their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance, although their defence team argued they acted out of self-defence after years of sexual abuse by their father.
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The brothers have maintained since they were first charged with the murders that their parents abused them.
A Netflix series and subsequent documentary about the brothers thrust them back into the spotlight last year.
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