Hintz questionable for Dallas; Edmonton hoping for penalty-kill success at home
© Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images
EDMONTON — Roope Hintz is questionable for the Dallas Stars against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final at Rogers Place on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, ESPN+, ABC).
The center had to be helped off the ice at 3:46 of the third period of Game 2 on Friday after he was slashed on the top of the left foot by Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse. Edmonton won the game 3-0 to tie the best-of-7 series.
“Just getting tests this morning,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said Saturday. “Honestly, I don’t know until we get these test results.”
Nurse was originally assessed a five-minute major penalty for slashing, but it was downgraded to a two-minute minor following a review.
Dallas is looking to regain home-ice advantage with at least one win in Edmonton. Game 4 is at Rogers Place on Tuesday.
“That’s hockey, injuries are a big part of our sport, and you never know what’s going to happen and to who it happens,” Stars forward Evgenii Dadonov said Saturday. “We’re just playing our game. Coaches make adjustments and we do our job. We just don’t think about it, we just go out and play and (do) whatever you can (to) do better.”
The Oilers feel they played five excellent periods of hockey through the first two games, with the exception of the third period of Game 1. The Stars scored three power-play goals to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 6-3 win.
“I’m very happy with the guys, how they came out yesterday and knew the importance of yesterday’s game,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Coming back to Edmonton down two (games) would have been very difficult against this team. I think we’ve responded really well after losses, for the most part. We knew we needed a good effort to get that win.”
The Oilers are looking for another strong effort in a rare Stanley Cup Playoffs matinee here; captain Connor McDavid has never played an afternoon NHL playoff game.
“Whatever team is ready to roll is going to have the advantage,” McDavid said after the win Friday. “It’s got to be us. We have to make sure we’re ready to go right from the puck drop.”
Teams that win Game 3 when a best-of-7 series is tied win the series 66.2 percent of the time (243-124).
Here is a breakdown of Game 3:
Stars: Dallas is looking for more even-strength production from its top offensive players. Forwards Mikko Rantanen, Jamie Benn, Matt Duchene, Mikael Granlund, Wyatt Johnston, Hintz, defensemen Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley and Cody Ceci did not have an even-strength point in the first two games. Such has been a trend for Dallas through the playoffs at even strength. Fortunately, they have the best power play of the remaining playoff teams, converting at 33.3 percent (15-for-45). However, the power play has not been as dominant on the road, converting at 17.7 percent (3-for-17) away from American Airlines Center.
Oilers: Edmonton has three shutouts in its past four games. All three of goalie Stuart Skinner‘s wins (3-2 record) in the playoffs have been shutouts. The Oilers did a good job of protecting the puck in their Game 2 win and killed each of the two power plays against them. They gave up three-power play goals in the third period of Game 1. Edmonton’s penalty kill has struggled in the playoffs, currently 15th of the 16 teams that qualified, at 64.1 percent, giving up 14 goals in 39 short-handed situations. At home, the penalty kill is much better, giving up two goals on 12 short-handed situations (83.3 percent) in five games.
Number to know: 20. McDavid became the fourth player in NHL history with at least 20 points in four consecutive postseasons. He had an assist Friday to give him 20 points (three goals, 17 assists) in 13 games. McDavid is tied with Rantanen (nine goals, 11 assists) and teammate Leon Draisaitl (six goals, 14 assists) for the playoff scoring lead.
“We don’t have the luxury of that matchup now for the next two games. We’ve got to rely on our group and there’s got to be a trust there with everybody that’s out there. That’s not just on the defensemen, that’s on the forwards, too, to defend as a five-man unit.” — Stars coach Pete DeBoer on not having last change against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl
“It’s a tight turnaround. Obviously, we just played [Friday] night, and I haven’t been able to catch up with our coaching staff. When we meet, we’ll discuss that. It’s something we know we can insert; we have some good players that can provide some energy. The aspect of adding some of that energy that would be helpful, but there’s also the sticking with the lineup that won still. I think there’s positives on both ways.” — Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch on possible lineup changes entering Game 3
FLA vs. CAR | EDM vs. DAL
FLA vs. TOR | CAR vs. WSH | DAL vs. WPG | EDM vs. VGK
OTT vs. TOR | FLA vs. TBL | MTL vs. WSH | NJD vs. CAR
STL vs. WPG | COL vs. DAL | MIN vs. VGK | EDM vs. LAK
Mikael Granlund — Roope Hintz — Mikko Rantanen
Mason Marchment — Matt Duchene — Tyler Seguin
Jamie Benn — Wyatt Johnston — Evgenii Dadonov
Jason Robertson — Sam Steel — Colin Blackwell
Esa Lindell — Miro Heiskanen
Thomas Harley — Cody Ceci
Lian Bichsel — Alex Petrovic
Jake Oettinger
Casey DeSmith
Scratched: Oskar Back, Mavrik Bourque, Mathew Dumba, Ilya Lyubushkin, Brendan Smith
Injured: Nils Lundkvist (shoulder)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Connor McDavid — Zach Hyman
Vasily Podkolzin — Leon Draisaitl — Kasperi Kapanen
Evander Kane — Adam Henrique — Connor Brown
Trent Frederic — Mattias Janmark — Corey Perry
Brett Kulak — Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse — Troy Stecher
Jake Walman — John Klingberg
Stuart Skinner
Olivier Rodrigue
Scratched: Viktor Arvidsson, Joshua Brown, Cam Dineen, Ty Emberson, Max Jones, Derek Ryan, Jeff Skinner
Injured: Mattias Ekholm (undisclosed), Calvin Pickard (lower body)
Status report
There was no update Saturday as to whether Hintz would travel to Edmonton and be available. If he can’t play, Back could replace him in the lineup; the forward has played nine games this postseason, including Game 1 against the Oilers. … Ekholm is practicing and could be available at some point during the series, according to Knoblauch. The defenseman is recovering from an undisclosed injury and hasn’t played since April 11.
NHL.com independent correspondents Taylor Baird and Gerry Moddejonge contributed to this report
