Five Reasons the Stars Seem Likely to Win Game 4
Reason the First: Roope Hintz is back, and he is very good.
The Hintz factor pic.twitter.com/qh7AJHJiGM
— Meghan Chayka (@MeghanChayka) May 29, 2024
Reason the Second: Tyler Seguin is finally having the playoff run we kept hoping he would have ten years ago. He’s got the best GF% of any forward on the team (behind only Thomas Harley among defensemen, btw), and he (with Jamie Benn) has been scoring consistently all playoffs.
Reason the Third: Wyatt Johnston continues to be, quietly, clutch. (See above). He’s leading the team in goals; he’s playing the most forward minutes on the team, and he’s been a big part of a Stars’ Penalty Kill that has stifled the few chances Edmonton have gotten.
And by the way, lest you think my Wyatt Johnston piece the other week was a bit hyperbolic, I offer these metaphorical apples upon the metaphorical window of your metaphorical bar (so to speak):
Lighting the lamp in a 5-3 Gm3 comeback win for his @DallasStars on Monday, 21-year old Wyatt Johnston has a team leading 8 goals so far in this postseason. In addition to his 4 as a rookie last year, he now sits tied for 6th on this list of centres in #StanleyCup Playoff history pic.twitter.com/xffLMDd2eQ
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) May 29, 2024
Reason the Fourth: Jason Robertson is playing the second-most minutes on the team, and he’s now leading everyone in 5-on-5 scoring.
Oh, and Jason Robertson is also leading the team in penalties drawn, while he himself has taken zero:
Also, Elliotte Friedman mentioned on the 32 Thoughts podcast this morning that, according to Jeff Reese, Robertson is notorious for ruining goalie drills by constantly finding ways to poke holes in Jake Oettinger and Scott Wedgewood when they’re practicing specific saves, post-leans, and other goalie miscellanea. I will be picturing a cackling Jason Robertson skating away from a highly annoyed Jake Oettinger in Frisco for the next five years. Perhaps a “natural” goal-scorer is just another form of the fallen nature we all share.
Reason the Fifth: Edmonton is getting desperate, even if they haven’t changed the goalie yet.
Oilers with some unique looks in warmup:
Nurse-Kulak
Broberg-Ceci
Kulak plays the weak-side, not Broberg
Draisaitl between McLeod and Perry
Henrique between Kane and Holloway— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) May 30, 2024
I'm not saying Cody Ceci is actually Edmonton's eighth-best 5v5 defenceman, but he's *much* closer to being their eighth-best than he is their best.
And reuniting Nurse/Ceci (out-chanced 8-1 tonight, 11 xGF%) is absolutely indefensible. https://t.co/Q1gelmrsZM— Jonathan Willis (@JonathanWillis) May 28, 2024
Every series thus far has seen the Stars drive their opponents to second-guess their strategy. Meanwhile, Dallas just keeps on rolling four lines, bouncing back from bad breaks, and weathering storms. Then they punch back, and hard.
Tonight could be the penultimate punch of the series. Should be fun.