Oilers overcome loss of Hyman in Game 4, move within 1 win of Stanley Cup Final: Takeaways

Sports

add

EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers moved to within one step of returning to the Stanley Cup Final by defeating the Dallas Stars 4-1 in Game 4 of the Western Conference final on Tuesday.

The Oilers got power-play goals from Leon Draisaitl and Corey Perry, another multi-point performance from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and 28 saves from Stuart Skinner to win their third consecutive game and take a 3-1 series lead. It was also their 11th victory in the last 13 games.

Jason Robertson scored the only goal for the Stars, which tied the game 1-1 in the second period, but Perry gave the Oilers the lead less than three minutes later. Kasperi Kapanen and Adam Henrique added late empty-net goals.

The Oilers are now in control as the series shifts to Dallas for Game 5 on Thursday.

Oilers win without Hyman

The Oilers lost top right winger Zach Hyman midway through the first period and played with only 11 forwards for the duration.

Hyman took a hit from Stars forward Mason Marchment in the neutral zone just before the midway mark of the opening period. He immediately dropped his stick and favored his right arm before skating off the ice and directly to the Oilers’ dressing room. He left the game for good and was limited to three minutes, 11 seconds, of ice time.

Hyman had been a key playoff contributor for the Oilers, with five goals and 11 points, while adding another element.

He had a playoff-best 16 goals on the team’s run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season but had transformed into a hitting machine this postseason. Hyman had two hits before leaving Tuesday’s game, to give him 111 hits in 15 games. He’s 15 hits away from the single-season playoff record of 126, set by Tampa Bay Lightning winger Blake Coleman in 2020.

“I’m just trying to be more physical,” he said before the game. “I’m a guy who gets in on the forecheck in the regular season. If someone passes by, maybe you wouldn’t hit him. But in the playoffs, it’s an investment in a way.

“When I’m playing with Connor (McDavid), I’m probably playing against the top D pairing every night. Those guys are pretty skilled. If you can get in on the forecheck and be physical against them, maybe you don’t see it in the first couple games, maybe you don’t see it in (Game) 3 or 4 – but maybe you do. That’s the mindset. It’s not about getting as many hits as I can. It’s just about being physical. Our whole group has really bought into that in many different ways.”

Nugent-Hopkins’ excellence continues

Another game, another outstanding offensive performance from Nugent-Hopkins.

The longest-serving Oiler followed up a three-assist outing in Game 3 with two primary helpers in Game 4. Those sublime setups extended his point streak to four games.

That means Nugent-Hopkins has recorded a point in all four games of the Western Conference final. He has a total nine points in the series.

The last Oiler to have this type of run in the first four games of a conference final was Wayne Gretzky, who had 10 points by the end of Game 4 of the 1988 Campbell Conference Final against the Detroit Red Wings. Not bad company for Nugent-Hopkins.

Hintz returns, Dadonov sits

Dallas’ Roope Hintz made it through warmups this time and suited up for Game 4, but the surprise was the healthy scratch of Evgenii Dadonov, who sat out for the first time in these playoffs.

Perhaps it was because coach Pete DeBoer didn’t want to tinker with his fourth line of Oscar Back, Sam Steel and Colin Blackwell, which was arguably their best unit in Game 3.

Also interesting was the decision to leave Robertson up on the top line, with Hintz and Mikko Rantanen. Mikael Granlund shifted down to the Wyatt Johnston line with Jamie Benn.

The Stars tried to find more five-on-five scoring. They certainly got their looks in the opening period Tuesday night, outshooting the Oilers 16-10, with the high-danger chances at five on five 6-2 in favor of the Stars according to Natural Stat Trick. But in keeping with the trend of the series, there was nothing to show for it on the scoreboard for Dallas.

Benn, on Tuesday morning, talked about the need for the Stars to get more greasy goals as a measure to solve their five-on-five scoring issues.

There’s no question Skinner has been allowed to be a little too comfortable in his crease in this series, and that the Stars need to find more blue ice and traffic around the Oilers’ netminder. But despite their best intentions, there was no noticeable uptick in that area in Game 4. The Stars got their looks, yes, but a greasy goal from the blue paint never materialized.

Hintz, meanwhile, got a rude welcome back early in Game 4 when Evan Bouchard slashed him right in the same area that Darnell Nurse injured him in Game 2. Not a good look for Bouchard, on what seemed like a targeted slash. Hintz went back to the bench and looked frustrated as he waved the trainer over. But he didn’t miss a shift. Hintz played 17:11, did not record a shot and won 10 of 15 faceoffs.

Evan Bouchard gives Roope Hintz a slash to the top of his foot in his return to the lineup pic.twitter.com/ejnLtPIrwp

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 28, 2025

The Stars’ captain, Benn, absolutely plastered Bouchard in the second period with a heavy hit on the forecheck. Retaliation for the slash on Hintz?

For his part, Nurse was largely unapologetic about his hack that kept Hintz out of Game 3.

“I was backing up to the net, and I got a shot in the back,” Nurse said before the game, referring to an initial cross-check from Hintz. “It was just a natural reaction. It’s a play that … probably happens two dozen times in a year. It’s unfortunate. I must have got him in a bad spot. You don’t want to go out there and hurt anyone, but it was just one of those plays that happens so often.”

Oilers’ lineup change ends up helping

With Connor Brown already ruled out for Game 4, the result of a check from former Oiler Alex Petrovic in the previous game, the Oilers had to make a lineup change.

They were debating about dressing 11 forwards and seven defenseman if Mattias Ekholm was deemed healthy enough from a lower-body injury to make his 2025 playoff debut. He wasn’t, so instead the Oilers dressed winger Viktor Arvidsson to replace Brown. That ended up being a good thing, given Hyman’s early injury.

Arvidsson was a healthy scratch for the previous five games. His last appearance came in Game 3 of the second-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights, when the Oilers lost 4-3 on Reilly Smith’s last-second goal. The Oilers had a 4-1 record after Kasperi Kapanen replaced him in the lineup and Troy Stecher came in for Ty Emberson.

Arvidsson scored a goal and had four points in nine playoff games before coming out of the lineup. He last played on the fourth line with Vasily Podkolzin and Mattias Janmark, and felt he shouldn’t have been removed.

“That’s the toughest part of our job, especially when you’re doing everything right and trying to bring something to the team with the role you have,” he said before the game.

Arvidsson started Game 4 on the fourth line with Janmark and Trent Frederic, but he got moved around after Hyman’s injury. He wound up playing 11:04.

The Oilers signed Arvidsson to a two-year, $4 million AAV contract on July 1. He had 15 goals and 27 points in 67 regular-season games.

Arvidsson is a veteran of 613 games, with 194 goals, including two 30-goal seasons. For him to be held out of the lineup, along with six-time 30-goal scorer Jeff Skinner, who’s been limited to one game this spring, shows how much depth the Oilers have.

“Our depth is as good as any in the league,” Draisaitl said. “We have had good teams, but I would say depth-wise this is probably as deep as we’ve been since I’ve been here. It’s a luxury to have. That’s what good teams have. We have a lot of guys that can just play in any situation. That gives (coach Kris Knoblauch) a lot of options.

“(Arvidsson) knows how to play in every situation. We have a lot of guys that are capable of playing up and down the lineup.”

Calvin Pickard also backed up Stuart Skinner in Game 4. This was the first time Pickard was available since Game 2 of the Vegas series. Pickard said he sustained an injury during the game when Golden Knights forward Tomas Hertl fell on top of him. He said he knew it was bad but was running on adrenaline to finish the game, a crucial 5-4 overtime win.

Stars’ futility continues

The Stars won a huge road game in Colorado in the opening round, in Gabriel Landeskog’s return of all nights — a Game 3 victory that was a major moment in that seven-game series win over the Avalanche.

They also won Game 1 in Winnipeg in arguably the NHL’s most hostile environment, which set the tone for their six-game series win over the first-place Jets.

So what we heard from the Stars in the lead-up to Game 4 was their confidence that they could bounce back and tap into that resiliency they showed in those earlier moments.

What they needed in Edmonton was a win, and instead got lost games 3 and 4, which has put them in a deep hole on the verge of elimination. Tuesday night felt like the season was essentially on the line, and they didn’t deliver.

The series isn’t over yet. The Stars are 7-2 at home, where two of the next three games will be played if they can stay alive. But they’ll need to find a road win Saturday night at Rogers Place in Game 6 (if there is one) in order to pull off the dramatic series comeback. There’s not much evidence to suggest a Game 6 win on the road is likely. The Stars had their moments in games 3 and 4, but overall, the Stars still haven’t put together 60 minutes. That doesn’t cut it in the Western Conference final.

And it’s not about one guy, but Mikko Rantanen has now gone seven straight games without scoring. He’s the most dynamic offensive player, but he’s been bottled up by the Oilers in this series. And it’s killing the Stars.

Also, a disturbing trend continued for the Stars.

That was the 14th time in 17 games this spring that they’ve allowed the first goal in a game. Though they rebounded to tie Game 4 on Robertson’s tally with the man advantage in the second period, they ultimately lost their third straight game of the series.

The Stars have allowed the first goal in all four games of this series. Given that, it’s perhaps not shocking that they’re on the brink of elimination. More shocking is they have a 9-8 record in the playoffs, given how many times they’ve had to play from behind.

(Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

Share on

email

Previous

trending_flat

Marlon Freitas cita apoio a Jair após expulsão e exalta união do Botafogo contra La U: ‘Ninguém fica pra trás’

O Globo

Next

trending_flat

Pacers vs. Knicks: Tyrese Haliburton erupts for historic triple-double in Game 4 as Indiana takes 3-1 lead

Sports