Thursday night in the Stanley Cup playoffs saw Oettinger and the Stars one-up the Flames from Game 1, a star player on Broadway recapture his old game, the league's best team looking every bit the part, and a young superstar adding to his legacy.
Here are five things to know as we head into Friday's post-season action:
ANYTHING YOU CAN DO I CAN DO BETTER
The Dallas Stars blanked the Calgary Flames 2-0 Thursday night to even their series at a game apiece as Jake Oettinger made 29 saves for his first post-season shutout.
This comes on the heels of Calgary's 1-0 win over Dallas in the series opener when Jacob Markstrom recorded a 16-save shutout.
With just three goals scored combined between the two sides, it looks like we'll be in for a tight, defensive series where the difference could very well be the performance of each side's goaltending.
Markstrom struck the first blow and Oettinger responded emphatically.
PANARIN POWER
Artemi Panarin bounced back in a big way Thursday night as his New York Rangers evened their series with the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 5-2 win.
Panarin erupted for three points as he scored and assisted on two other goals to lead the blue-shirts past Pittsburgh.
The Rangers' leading scorer was kept off the scoresheet and only managed two shots in New York's 4-3 triple-overtime defeat in Game 1.
"Definitely a good showing today, a good first step in the right direction," Panarin told reporters after the game.
PRESIDENTIAL-LOOKING PANTHERS
The Florida Panthers tied up their series with the Washington Capitals with a 5-1 thrashing and looked every bit the Presidents' Trophy winners doing it.
They got contributions from multiple lines, strong goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky, who made 26 saves, and even some puck luck.
Aaron Ekblad opened scoring for the Cats after he fired a shot from just outside the right circle and saw it take a fortuitous bounce off a Washington stick and sailed high over Vitek Vanacek's shoulder and in the net.
That appeared to spark Florida, as it went on to rout the Capitals.
NORRIS MAKAR
With all due respect to players like Roman Josi, Victor Hedman and Adam Fox, it certainly looks like the James Norris Memorial Trophy will go to the Colorado Avalanche's Cale Makar.
Though a regular-season award, Makar looked to add to his case Thursday when he scored the game-winning goal 8:31 into overtime to give the Avs a 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators and pace Colorado to a 2-0 series lead.
Makar was an absolute menace Thursday as he took a game-high 12 shots and was eventually rewarded for his persistence.
MAPLE LEAFS, OILERS LOOK TO SWING MOMENTUM BACK
The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers are back in action Friday night with each of their respective series against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Los Angeles Kings tied at 1-1.
Both Canadian clubs will be hitting the road for their next couple of games with hopes of taking back the home-ice advantage that was stolen from them.
Toronto is coming off a 5-3 loss to the Bolts. The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions looked more like their old selves in Game 2, bouncing back from an uncharacteristically poor showing to the Leafs in Game 1.
For the Oilers, they'll be looking to build on the momentum of the 6-0 smashing they handed the Kings in Game 1. Through two games so far, the Edmonton superstar duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have combined for six points (two goals, four assists).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 6, 2022.
The Canadian Press
