Oilers can knock Kings out of playoffs again. Stars-Knights tied going into Game 5 after 4 road wins
Oilers can knock Kings out of playoffs again. Stars-Knights tied going into Game 5 after 4 road wins
The Edmonton Oilers have won in these NHL playoffs with a couple of big-scoring games.
They got their latest victory when limited to 13 shots on net and with only one of those going in for a goal.
The versatile Oilers, who scored a combined 13 goals in the first two wins of their series against the Los Angeles Kings, are now back home Wednesday night with a chance to advance to the second round. Edmonton will take a fourth win in the best-of-seven series any way it can get it.
“Having in our portfolio that we can play a lot of different games is going to be huge here coming down the stretch,” Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “These games, we’re not afraid of them.”
After an extra day off since that 1-0 win on Sunday night for a 3-1 series lead, the Oilers will try to eliminate the Pacific Division rival Kings in the first round for the third season in a row when they play Game 5. Los Angeles has dropped its past four playoff series since winning the Stanley Cup title 10 years ago.
The only other NHL game Wednesday night is a Game 5 in Dallas, with the Stars and reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights tied 2-2. The road team has won every game in that series, with the Stars winning 4-2 on Monday night to sweep both games in Vegas after the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed lost twice at home last week.
“You look at the four games, I don’t think we’ve played a poor game yet,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “I thought the first two games in Dallas, (the Knights) were opportunistic in different situations. I loved Game 3, and for Game 4, you’re going to see their best, and I though we were good considering the situation. So I’m excited about our group getting home.”
GOLDEN KNIGHTS at STARS, Series tied 2-2, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
This is now a best-of-three series, with the Dallas Stars having home-ice advantage — if that really is an advantage in this series.
After clinching the Western Conference Final in Game 6 last year in Dallas, Vegas won the first two games in this series there. The Knights are comfortable in American Airlines Center, where they also won their only two regular-season games before Christmas.
“Each team’s probably had their way in one of these games,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “But in general, here we are tied 2-2, all close games. So we have to be the team that makes the right plays the next game like we did there the last trip.”
The Stars have played the past three games without forwards Mason Marchment and Radek Faska after both left with undisclosed injuries in the third period of the series opener. They have been without big-bodied defender Jani Hakanpää since mid-March because of a lower-body injury.
Ty Dellandrea, a healthy scratch for the Stars their past two games at home, scored the game-winning goal in Game 4. He also didn’t play in the first two games of the West final against Vegas last year before scoring twice in the third period of Game 5 then after that game was tied.
“It’s two really good teams going at it,” Dellandra said about this series. ”We’ve kept going back and forth. It’s playoff hockey and it’s exciting.”
KINGS at OILERS, Edmonton leads 3-1, 10 p.m. (ESPN)
While enough to win, Edmonton’s 13 shots in Game 4 tied a franchise record for their fewest in a playoff game. Los Angeles has never allowed fewer in the playoffs.
The game’s only goal came on the Oilers’ lone power-play attempt. It was their eighth power-play goal in this series against one of the league’s top penalty-killing teams in the regular season. The Kings, meanwhile, remain the only team this postseason that hasn’t scored on a power play.
Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner has stopped 51 consecutive shots, including that 33-save Sunday for his first career playoff shutout.
“I don’t think anyone ever questioned if he was going to make the next save,” coach Kris Knoblauch said.
A few more saves by Skinner, and Edmonton could be moving to the next round.
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AP Sports Writer Mark Anderson in Las Vegas and The Canadian Press contributed to this story.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press