The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Dallas Stars 5-2 at Rogers Place on Wednesday (May 29) in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final to tie the best-of-seven series at two wins apiece.
Wyatt Johnston and Esa Lindell each scored early to give Dallas a 2-0 lead just 5:29 into the first period, before Edmonton rallied with five unanswered goals, from Ryan McLeod, Evan Bouchard, Leon Draisaitl, Mattias Janmark and Mattias Ekholm. Stuart Skinner made 20 saves between the pipes for Edmonton, while Stars netminder Jake Oettinger stopped 24 of 28 shots he faced.
Knoblauch Makes Shrewd Moves
During the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Oilers first-year coach Kris Knoblauch has made a handful of lineup moves that may have been met with raised eyebrows at first, but were quickly proven to be a stroke of genius.
Related: Oilers Erase Early Deficit, Beat Stars 5-2 in Game 4
On Wednesday, Knoblauch sat forwards Sam Carrick and Warren Foegele in favour of veteran Corey Perry, who hadn’t played since Game 5 of Edmonton’s second round series against the Vancouver Canucks, and the struggling Ryan McLeod, who in Game 3 had been healthy scratched for the first time in the 2023-24 regular season or 2024 postseason.
Knoblauch then put McLeod and Perry on a line with Draisaitl, who had gone the last two games without a point after starting the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs with points in 13 consecutive games.
The results? A goal for Draisaitl, his first since Game 1; a goal for McLeod, his first of the 2024 postseason; and an assist for Perry, his first point of these playoffs.
Meanwhile, Knoblauch played 22-year-old blueliner Philip Broberg for the first time in the 2024 NHL Playoffs, while scratching defenceman Vincent Desharnais. Broberg logged a postseason career-high 14:21 of ice time, and went largely unnoticed, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Nurse Erupts for Monster Game
Knoblauch’s biggest move on the backend, however, may have been pairing Darnell Nurse with Brett Kulak. For the first three games of the series, Nurse skated with Desharnais while Kulak was partnered with Cody Ceci (Ceci was paired with Broberg on Wednesday).
With just two points (no goals) and a minus-12 rating through the first 15 games of the playoffs going into action Wednesday night, Nurse had become the focus of much criticism. On Wednesday morning, he was uncharacteristically short during his media availability, likely a reflection of how heavily things were weighing on the veteran.
Related: McDavid Vouches For Nurse Amidst Roster Changes for Oilers
Game 4 couldn’t have started much worse for Nurse. He was on the ice for both Dallas goals, the second which resulted from the puck bouncing off his backside past Skinner.
But from there, Nurse regrouped and played his finest game of the 2024 postseason. He picked up an assist on McLeod’s goal at 13:30 of the first period, which got the Oilers on the board, and wound up setting an Oilers playoff record by doling out a monstrous 12 hits.
After the game, Nurse’s coach and teammates universally sang his praises, including Oilers forward Connor Brown:
“There’s a lot to be said about Darnell,” Brown said while speaking to the media. “He had everyone and their dog coming at him this morning, had two tough bounces to start the game, and he settles in and plays probably his best game of the playoffs and leads us to a victory. That’s character, right there.”
Janmark Scores Big Short-Handed Goal
Nurse was also a big part of Edmonton’s penalty-kill efforts on Wednesday, logging 1:43 of short-handed ice time, as the Oilers killed off both of the Stars’ power-play opportunities.
Edmonton has now gone a franchise-record eight straight games without allowing a power-play goal, killing off 23 consecutive penalties in the process.
To top it off, Janmark scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal while Edmonton was short-handed, taking a great feed from Brown and firing the puck past Oettinger at 14:31 of the second period to give the Oilers a 3-2 lead.
Oilers Rebound From Terrible Start
Apparently, the most dangerous lead in hockey is 2-0 because Wednesday marked the third time in the four games of this series that a team has scored the first two goals of the game, only to watch the opponent score at least the next two goals.
In Game 1 at American Airlines Center, Edmonton led 2-0 in the second period before Dallas scored twice to force overtime. The Oilers eventually won when Connor McDavid (who had three assists in Game 4 on Wednesday) scored just 32 seconds into a second period of sudden death.
Edmonton scored twice in the opening 7:29 of Game 3 at Rogers Place on Monday (May 27) and led 2-0 early in the second period before Dallas reeled off three goals in a span of 3:33. While the Oilers would draw even at 3-3, Dallas eventually won with a pair of unanswered goals in the third period.
On Wednesday, the Oilers tied the game up at 2-2 before the end of the first period, then added two more goals in the middle frame to take a 4-2 lead into the second intermission.
Edmonton Plays Textbook Third Period
Leading by two goals, Edmonton played brilliantly in the third period, neither sitting back nor giving Dallas any prime scoring opportunities. The third period took just 33 minutes of real time to play, as the clock ticked away quickly on the chances of a comeback for the Stars. Ekholm’s empty-net goal with 1:53 remaining put Game 4 out of reach.
The series is now down to a best-of-three, although the Stars still hold home-ice advantage, and will host Game 5 at American Airlines Center on Friday (May 31).
