The Stars are starting to show holes as series momentum shifts
The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Dallas Stars 5-2 in Game 4 Wednesday, tying the series at two as it heads back to Dallas for Game 5 on Friday. Connor McDavid had three assists in the effort, and the Oilers got golas from Evan Bouchard, Leon Draisaitl and more.
One key moment in the game was Stars’ defenseman Chris Tanev leaving with a lower-body injury. If he’s out for an extended period of time, that would spell trouble for a Dallas lineup that’s already depleted on the blue line.
Stars’ Chris Tanev leaves Game 4 vs. Oilers with lower-body injury https://t.co/EFJ34KW5Z6
— Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) May 30, 2024
On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss the Stars’ struggles and if the Oilers have found any weaknesses in their armour.
Tyler Yaremchuk: From the Dallas perspective, we talked about what a dominant road team they’ve been. A big part of that is Jake Oettinger and shutting down the other team’s offense. You look at their goals against, they never gave up more than two goals in the first and second rounds, but they gave up three in Game 3 vs. Edmonton, then they give up five in Game 4.
How concerned should the Stars be about that trustworthy defense, and that maybe there’s a crack in it?
Frank Seravalli: Well, there’s a crack in Jake Oettinger, that’s for sure. That’s not to say he’s playing poorly by any stretch of the imagination, but he arrived in Edmonton ahead of Game 3 only allowing two goals in any road game through the postseason. The Oilers have put seven past him in their two home games.
But also, this now comes down to depth. Let’s talk about the Chris Tanev injury: you’re already playing Alex Petrovic, who has spent the last five seasons playing exclusively in the American Hockey League (Petrovic has played just one NHL regular-season game since the 2019-20 season). Nils Lundkvist has been a healthy scratch.
If Tanev is out, the Stars are basically down to four defenseman, and one of them is Ryan Suter, who if you watch, really struggled in Game 4. I think there’s been a serious shift in the pendulum here. We’ve talked all series long about the Stars not having any holes in their lineup. That may be the case up front, but the advantage is not as big as I thought it was, and now I think the Oilers have a clear advantage on the blue line.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…