EDMONTON, Alberta — The Dallas Stars’ backs are officially against the wall.
The Stars dropped their third straight game in their Western Conference finals series against the Edmonton Oilers, falling 4-1 at Rogers Place Tuesday night.
According to MoneyPuck, if the Stars had won Game 4 on the road, they would’ve had a 54.3% chance to win the series.
Early push pays no dividends The Stars said, besides winning a critical Game 4, their goal Tuesday was to score first.
Edmonton has scored a power play goal in all four games this series.
EDMONTON, Alberta — The Dallas Stars are officially in a precarious situation.
Tuesday night’s 4-1 loss at Rogers Place against the Edmonton Oilers was the Stars’ third consecutive defeat in their Western Conference finals series.
As the series moves back to Dallas for Game 5, the Oilers now lead 3-1, and the Stars will need to win three straight games to get to the Stanley Cup Final.
Five things to consider after the Stars’ Game 4 defeat.
It’s a season.
The Stars had to win Tuesday because they have gotten into a hole that few teams can escape.
The Stars lost three straight games for the first time during the playoffs.
The Stars would have had a 54 percent chance to win the series if they had won Game 4 away from home, according to MoneyPuck. They are now only 14 points away from making it to the Final after losing Game 4.
In 91% of cases, teams that take a 3-1 lead in the series go on to win.
A series that is 3-1 has never been won by the Stars. In the 2007 playoffs, they lost to the Vancouver Canucks after forcing a Game 7 once.
There are no benefits to pushing too early.
On Tuesday, the Stars stated that their objective was to score first in addition to winning a crucial Game 4.
Before Tuesday’s game, the Stars had lost 13 of 16 playoff games and the first goal in all three of this series, meaning they would have to play catch-up for the majority of the postseason.
With a 16–10 shot advantage in the first period and two Edmonton penalties drawn, Dallas got off to the start it needed.
Leon Draisaitl, however, gave his team the 1-0 lead 11:23 into the first period thanks to a costly Jamie Benn tripping penalty behind the Oilers’ net.
In the second quarter, the Oilers took another lead after the Stars had tied the score for just 3:23.
In this series, the Stars have not held the lead for three games in a row.
Stars’ trustworthy PK breaks down.
Throughout the season, both in the regular season and the playoffs, Dallas’ penalty kill has been among the league’s best.
82 percent of the time, the Stars killed penalties and finished fourth in the league during the regular season. In the playoffs, they raised that figure to 83.3%, which is good for third place in the league.
However, Dallas failed when its PK needed to step up.
On Tuesday, the Oilers went two for three on the power play. There were no 5-on-5 goals scored during the match.
Corey Perry was left wide open on the post following a Mason Marchment interference penalty halfway through the second period, and Edmonton took an early lead thanks to a power-play goal from Draisatl in the first period.
After going just 6-for-24 on the power play in the first two rounds of this series, the Oilers are now 5-for-14. Edmonton has used the power play to score in each of the series’ four games.
Jason Robertson was the only player to convert the Stars’ one-for-four power play attempt on Tuesday night.
The arrival of Jason Robertson.
Jason Robertson’s postseason ramp-up took longer than expected after he missed the first round due to a lower-body injury.
Despite spending a lot of time on the fourth line and not contributing much offensively, he made a comeback to start the series against Winnipeg.
Robertson was put back in his usual position on the top line following Roope Hintz’s injury that kept him out of action for Game 3. He had his best playoff performance, scoring his first goal on a deflection off a Lian Bichsel shot.
Robertson stayed on that line to score for the second consecutive game after Hintz returned in Game 4, taking advantage of a power-play in the second period.
In ten playoff games, Robertson has now recorded two goals and two assists.
Robertson’s arrival is something the Stars have needed for a while, but they still need more of their scorers to get going in order to get out of this huge hole.
Both goalies came forward.
With the exception of Game 1’s five-goal third period, Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner was the superior goalie for the first three games of the series, allowing Dallas to only two goals.
With 28 saves on the way to victory on Tuesday, Skinner was excellent once more.
Although Dallas has created plenty of scoring opportunities, Skinner has been a major factor in their inability to convert.
Jake Oettinger recovered from Game 3’s six goals on 24 shots. Even though he might have wanted to stop Draisaitl’s first goal on the power play, Oettinger made 29 saves and gave his team a chance to win.
Offence was scarce, and neither goalie gave up a 5-on-5 goal.
