Around the NHL: Leafs avoid sweep, Oilers and Stars pattern continues, and more
11 months ago
Game 4 is done for each team, meaning we are just three sets of games away from the Conference Finals.
In the East, we have a pair of teams on the brink of moving on to the Conference Finals. The West isn’t so clear though, as we have a pair of series that are tied at the moment. Let’s start with the Oilers…
The Oilers are tied with the Golden Knights 2-2:
Who doesn’t love chippy, playoff hockey? The narrative of Game 4 up until the final few minutes was that Edmonton finally had some depth scoring, while also scoring three five-on-five goals.
And then Vegas lost their minds. First, Kailer Yamamoto was hit near the Vegas bench and Chandler Stephenson decided to grab onto his stick. Both received 10-minute misconducts.
Next up, Evander Kane absolutely obliterated Alex Pietrangelo along the boards leading to an excellent scoring chance. The Knights got heated up once again, bouncing Kane like a Plinko in front of the goal. Kane and Jonathan Marchessault both received 10-minute misconducts.
Pietrangelo then decided to switch occupations to that of a lumberjack, as he two-hand chopped Leon Draisaitl in the face area. He was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct, but there was only 1:27 remaining in the game.
More rough stuff, as Darnell Nurse sought out Nic Hauge with less than a minute in the game. The two had been pushing and shoving all game, so it wasn’t a surprise when they dropped the mitts. The bad news with this incident is that because Nurse was given an instigator penalty on the play with less than five minutes, he is technically suspended. However, the NHL will review it, and it would be bad for hockey if they uphold the suspension.
This doesn’t even mention the fact that Shea Theodore speared Klim Kostin in the nuts, or when Keegan Kolesar elbowed Vincent Desharnais in the head.
Game 5 is on Friday at 8:00 PM MT.
The Stars are tied with the Kraken 2-2:
Dallas won Game 4 on Tuesday, so it was no surprise that the Oilers won on Wednesday. That’s just how The Prophecy™ goes.
Goaltending for the Stars hasn’t been great. Since the start of the second round, Jake Oettinger has posted an .886, .926, .706, and an .842 save percentage in Games 1 through 4 respectively.
If Dallas wants to end this series, they’ll either need that offence to continue to click, or Oettinger to play better.
Game 5 is on Thursday at 7:30 PM MT. Watch this game to see how Edmonton will fare in Game 5!
The Panthers lead the Maple Leafs 3-1:
The team from Sunrise, Florida, had a chance to close out the Maple Leafs on Wednesday evening.
It’s not that Florida played poorly, as they did in the first two games. They didn’t dominate the puck, but goaltender Joseph Woll absorbed everything with his chest. Sergei Bobrovsky also had an excellent game, only allowing a fluke goal in during the second period, and a seeing-eye wrister from the blue line to squeak in.
With that being said, the Panthers have given the Leafs (and their fans) hope, which isn’t great news. Moreover, Game 5 shifts back to Toronto.
Speaking of which, Game 5 will be at 5:00 PM MT on Friday. Hopefully, the Panthers can put the Leafs away for good.
The Hurricanes lead the Devils 3-1:
I’m not sure what to make of this series. I said after Game 2 that “the Devils will go quietly”, who then proceeded to win 8-4. Game 4 was much of the same for the Devils, as they only managed to score once (for the third time), while the Hurricanes blasted them with six goals.
So far in the series, Carolina has won 5-1, 6-1, 6-1, and lost 8-4. Not too sure if the Devils can win another game, but I’ve said that before.
Game 5 is at 5:00 PM on Thursday.
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