Heika’s Take: Stars’ strong effort not enough, pushed to brink in Game 4 loss

It was the same song, third verse for the Stars on Tuesday night against the Edmonton Oilers.

Dallas once again used great puck possession to create multiple scoring chances but could only put one past goalie Stuart Skinner in a 4-1 loss at Rogers Place. It was the fourth straight time in this series that Edmonton scored the first goal, and it means Dallas has scored first in just three of 17 playoff games this season.

“It’s a little bit of the same story…we just can’t get that lead,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “You play a period like that and not get up, that puts you in a tough spot.”

Dallas had a 17-10 edge in shots on goal, a 36-16 advantage in shot attempts and put up 20 scoring chances in the opening 20 minutes. But Skinner stopped all of them and Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl scored on a power play 11:34 into the game. Dallas tied it up on a Jason Robertson power play goal six minutes into the second period, but the Oilers cashed in on another man advantage (this time from Corey Perry) to secure the eventual game-winner.

“We’re having a hard time to get the first goal,” said Mikko Rantanen, who has been held off the score sheet for seven consecutive games after scoring nine goals in his previous six playoff games. “It would be important in the playoffs if you could play with the lead, we haven’t done it a lot.”

That said, Dallas knew the urgency of the situation, so it played hard despite the deficit. Still, Jamie Benn took a tripping penalty in the first period that led to Draisaitl’s goal and Mason Marchment took an interference penalty in the second that led to Perry’s. Each player has taken eight penalties in the playoffs, but DeBoer said he didn’t think either was egregious.

“The first one, I’m not even sure that’s a penalty,” DeBoer said. “The Marchment one, we’re trying to create room in the O-zone.”

What would have been helpful would have been an effective penalty kill. Dallas, which was among the NHL leaders in penalty kill success, was beaten fairly early in each Edmonton power play.

“We had to get a kill tonight,” DeBoer said. “That’s the difference in the game.”

Edmonton has some of the best offensive players in the league and is hitting at a league-best 56.3 percent at home in the playoffs, so the Stars understand what they’re up against.

“They’ve got a couple of the best players in the world,” forward Tyler Seguin said. “They’re an elite power play, too.”

The score was 2-1 with four minutes left in the third period when Dallas pulled its goalie and Edmonton scored two empty-net goals, so this was basically a one-goal game that could have gone either direction. That said, the Stars have scored just two goals in the past three games and are getting frustrated because of the lack of scoring.

“I think guys were working hard in the first and we were better than them 5-on-5 and then they got a goal,” Rantanen said. “We pushed really hard, but two power play goals for them and only one for us. That was the game.”

Now, they come back to Dallas for Game 5 on Thursday needing a win. The franchise has never come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a series, but it can force a Game 6 back in Edmonton if it simply plays the strong game it has at home for much of the playoffs.

“It’s time to reset,” Rantanen said. “It’s not over until somebody wins four games. It’s just try to win one game and come back to Alberta.”

Seguin said the team can’t get frustrated.

“There’s a little anger right now and a little excitement, too,” Seguin said. “We get to go back home in front of our fans and break out a little bit.”

The veteran forward said the team can’t worry about not scoring on so many chances in the past two games.

“Maybe we deserved a little bit better, but playoffs don’t care what you deserve,” Seguin said. “You have to force the bounces and make the bounces happen by working.”

Right now, that’s exactly what Edmonton is doing.

“Playoffs don’t care about confidence,” Seguin said. “You keep working. This time of year, it’s about willing things in.”

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.