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 2-2 at the end of the first period, Oettinger dropped his stick after a play in front of the net and lost sight of it as Edmonton continued on the attack.
But a shot by Oilers star Connor McDavid, which seemed destined for the goal, or at least the post, hit the fallen post and deflected away from the mouth of the net.
McDavid was then seen shaking his head in shock at his bad luck as the first half ended shortly after.
After the first intermission, Edmonton dominated the game, winning 5-2 and tying the series at two games apiece.
Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger dropped his stick, resulting in a saved goal.
A shot from the right by Connor McDavid went off the post and wide of the net.
Mattias Janmark and Leon Draisaitl scored within a 51-second span in the second period to give Edmonton its first lead of the night.
Janmark broke the deadlock on a 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 left.
Game 5 is Friday night in Dallas.
Ryan McLeod, Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm, into an empty net with 1:53 left, also scored for Edmonton. Connor McDavid added two assists and Stuart Skinner made 20 saves.
Wyatt Johnson and Esa Lindell scored and Dallas took a 2-0 lead in the first five and a half minutes. McLeod and Bouchard responded for Edmonton late in the period.
Skinner made a great save on Evgenii Dadonov while the court was still vibrating after the tie broke out.
The Stars got their second power play with eight minutes left in regulation, but the Oilers took their 23rd consecutive penalty before Ekholm scored it with an empty net.
Jake Oettinger stopped 24 shots for Dallas.
Mattias Janmark scored the goal that broke the deadlock and gave Edmonton the victory.
Johnston scored his ninth of the playoffs in just 58 seconds when he passed the puck past Skinner on the first shot of the game.
The crowd sarcastically applauded the Oilers when Edmonton finally got its first shot after eight minutes of play.
Edmonton made three changes to the lineup, inserting defenseman Philip Broberg along with McLeod and fellow forward Corey Perry in place of Vincent Desharnais, Warren Foegele and Sam Carrick.
Stars defenseman Chris Tanev left the game in the second period due to a lower body injury. He didn’t come back.
