Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger’s biggest save of the night came while his stick was on the ice in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers.
With the game tied at 2-2 late in the first period, Oettinger dropped his stick after a play in front of the net and lost sight of him as Edmonton remained on the attack.
But a shot by Oilers star Connor McDavid that seemed destined for the goal — or at least the post — hit the fallen stick and flew away from the opening of the net.
McDavid was seen afterwards shaking his head in shock at his bad luck as the first period ended shortly afterwards.
After the first intermission, Edmonton dominated the match, going on to win 5–2 and even the series at two games apiece.
Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger dropped his stick, leading to a saved goal
A shot from the right side by Connor McDavid was deflected off the stick and away from the net
Mattias Janmark and Leon Draisaitl scored 51 seconds into the second period to give Edmonton its first lead of the night.
Janmark broke the deadlock with a short, 2-on-1 break with Connor Brown with 5:29 left in the period, and Draisaitl followed with his 10th of the postseason with 4:38 to go.
Game 5 is Friday night in Dallas.
Ryan McLeod, Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm, into an empty net with 1:53 to go, also scored for Edmonton. Connor McDavid added two assists and Stuart Skinner made 20 saves.
Wyatt Johnson and Esa Lindell scored as Dallas raced to a 2-0 lead in the first 5 1/2 minutes. McLeod and Bouchard countered late in the period for Edmonton.
Skinner made a big stop on Evgenii Dadonov with the rink still buzzing after the equalizer.
The Stars got their second power play with eight minutes left in regulation time, but the Oilers killed their 23rd straight penalty before Ekholm put it away with the empty-netter.
Jake Oettinger stopped 24 shots for Dallas.
Mattias Janmark scored the deadlock-breaking goal to lead to Edmonton’s win
Johnston scored his ninth of the playoffs in just 58 seconds when he snapped the puck past Skinner on the game’s first shot.
The crowd cheered the Oilers sarcastically when Edmonton finally got its first shot just over eight minutes into the game.
Edmonton made three lineup changes, adding defenseman Philip Broberg along with McLeod and fellow forward Corey Perry for Vincent Desharnais, Warren Foegele and Sam Carrick.
Star defenseman Chris Tanev left in the second period due to a lower-body injury. He didn’t come back.