Draisaitl strikes to give Oilers lead over Stars after first period
Published
Leon Draisaitl scored his seventh goal of the playoffs to give the Edmonton Oilers a 1-0 lead over the Dallas Stars after the first period in Game 4.
After winning back-to-back games the Oilers lead the series 2-1 and are looking to head back to Dallas with the opportunity to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the second-straight season.
Draisaitl opened the scoring at 11:23 of the period. With Jamie Benn in the penalty box, the Hart Trophy finalist snapped a shot from the right circle past Jake Oettinger to extend his point streak to five games. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Corey Perry assisted on the marker.
Vasily Podkolzin was called for roughing late in the period, giving the Stars 1:52 of power play time to start the second period.
Perry appeared to sustain an injury early in the period after taking a hit from Stars’ Mikael Granlund. He skated gingerly to the bench but did not head to the locker room.
Oilers forward Zach Hyman took a hit from Stars’ forward Mason Marchment and went straight to the dressing room.
The Stars got the first power play of the game when John Klingberg was called for holding, but were unable to break the ice as the Oilers killed the penalty to keep the game scoreless.
The Oilers made a change at forward with Viktor Arvidsson returning to the lineup in place of the injured Connor Brown. Brown was hurt in the second period of Game 3 on a hit from Alexander Petrovic.
Stars forward Roope Hintz returned to the lineup after missing Game 3 with a lower-body injury after taking a slash from Oilers’ defenceman Darnell Nurse. Hintz has five goals and six assists for 11 points in 15 playoff games this season.