Let’s watch some playoff hockey!
Scroll down to the comments to discuss Saturday night’s game.
Western Conference
Dallas Stars at Vegas Golden Knights, 7 p.m. CT (ABC, ESPN+)
Joe Pavelski scored in overtime Thursday night for Dallas 3-2 and keep the Stars’ playoff hopes alive. According to the NHL, Pavelski is now tied with Nicklas Backstrom and Patrice Bergeron for the second most overtime playoff goals among active players with four each (only Patrick Kane and Corey Perry have more at five). Jason Robertson scored the other two goals for the Stars and Jake Oettinger saved 37 of 39 shots. The Stars were objectively the better team in this game and last at 5-on-5, yet it took overtime to win Game 4 and they lost the last one, so it’s going to take a lot to turn this series around. On top of that, history is also against them as only four other teams have come back from being down 0-3 in the playoffs.
Dallas was without captain Jamie Benn the last game and will be for one as he was suspended for two game after cross-checking Vegas forward Mark Stone in Game 3.
For Vegas, William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault each scored while Adin Hill continued to be strong in net, making 39 saves. The biggest issue for the Golden Knights in Game 4 was their lack of discipline as two of the three goals against – Robertson first goal and Pavelski’s game winning – were score while they were on the penalty kill. Post-game Marchessault lamented Vegas’ effort level, saying it was just “not good enough,” but also pointed out how difficult it is to close out a series. Vegas did turn it up a bit in the third, outshooting Dallas 14-8, but they couldn’t get much quality going, producing only two high danger chances.
Still, Vegas still has a 3-1 stranglehold on the series and will have home-ice advtange in Game 5 for another chance to move on to the Stanley Cup Final.