The Anaheim Ducks are one victory away from winning their first Stanley Cup playoff series in nine years.

Finishing off the two-time defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers, especially on the road, won’t come easily.

The Ducks own a 3-1 edge in the best-of-seven first-round series heading into Game 5 on Tuesday night.

Anaheim has won three in a row after blowing a late lead and dropping the series opener 4-3 on April 20.

The Ducks answered back with a 6-4 win last Wednesday and a 7-4 victory Friday. Overtime was needed Sunday before the Ducks came away with a 4-3 victory.

“We’re up 3-1, and every game has been a toss-up,” Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Hanging in there and finding different ways, different guys against an excellent hockey team. We’re in a position now to look ahead and only think of one game.”

Quenneville is well aware that the Oilers have made a habit of coming back during the playoffs in recent years. They lost the first two games of their first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings last season before winning four straight.

Two years ago, Edmonton came back from 2-1 series deficits in the second and third rounds and then dropped the first three games of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers before forcing a Game 7.

“We’re in a hole, no doubt about it,” Oilers star Connor McDavid said. “We have to find a way to get a win at home.”

McDavid, who led the NHL with 138 points during the regular season, hasn’t been as dangerous since tweaking his right ankle in Game 2. He did manage to produce two points in each of the past two games after going scoreless in the first two, however.

“We’re all doing the best we can out there,” McDavid said. “We’re all working and trying to get it done.”

Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch likely will start Tristan Jarry in goal for the second straight game.

Jarry started Game 4 in place of Connor Ingram, who surrendered 14 goals on 93 shots in the first three games of the series (.849).

Jarry made 34 saves in his first postseason start since a 4-3 loss to the New York Rangers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference first round on May 15, 2022, when he played for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“Tristan played really well,” Knoblauch said. “Two of the goals, one went off our defenseman’s stick and the other was an unfortunate bounce that went off a skate. He made some big saves, and that’s what we wanted from him, a solid performance, and he played well. ”

On the other side, Lukas Dostal played his best game of the series, making 24 saves. He used the blade of his right skate to turn away McDavid after he got behind the defense in the final minutes of regulation.

“He’s the rock of our team,” Ducks forward Cutter Gauthier said of Dostal. “It doesn’t really surprise me how well he performs in high-pressure situations like that.”

The Ducks will also look to stay hot on the power play, which is 6-for-12 in the series.

“Our execution has been excellent,” Anaheim defenseman Jackson LaCombe said. “Similar to our 5-on-5 play, we’ve been working more and recovering more pucks, being in better spots for each other and being more available. That’s leading to more time and success, too.”

–Field Level Media

It’s come down to a best-of-three in the Western Conference first-round series between the No. 2 seed Dallas Stars and the No. 3 Minnesota Wild with Game 5 set for Tuesday night in Dallas.

The teams split Games 1 and 2 in Dallas and then alternated overtime wins in Games 3 and 4 in Minnesota to set up a pivotal Game 5.

“It’s home ice, best-of-three,” said Stars forward Mikko Rantanen, who had two assists in Game 4. “This group has been in this situation before, so we’re pretty familiar.”

Dallas was on the verge of coming home with a commanding 3-1 series lead, but Marcus Foligno tied Game 4 at 14:40 of the third period, then Matt Boldy won it on a deflection with 29 seconds remaining in overtime.

“There’s a lot of belief in here,” Foligno said after the win. “These are two unreal teams, and we’ve got to understand they’re a heck of a hockey club, and it’s going to take this type of effort every night against this squad. … We took a lot of positives out of (a 4-3 double overtime loss in Game 3), and we got rewarded tonight.”

After compiling a career-high 42 goals and 85 points in his fourth NHL season, Boldy has five points (three goals, two assists) in the series and got to the right place at the right time to tip Jared Spurgeon’s shot past Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger to end Game 4.

“He’s a tenacious competitor,” Wild coach John Hynes said after Game 4. “He just continues to do the right things. He continues to play, he continues to push. Plays through whatever the circumstances are and got a huge goal for us.”

Brock Faber had a goal and an assist and Jesper Wallstedt made 43 saves (including nine in overtime) for the Wild. He has a 2.06 goals-against-average in the series and a .929 save percentage. Faber has three goals in the series, becoming the first defenseman in franchise history to do so.

“We just keep fighting, keep getting pucks to the net,” Wallstedt said. “We keep playing, and we never give up.”

Minnesota forward Mats Zuccarello, who has missed the last three games with an upper-body injury sustained in Game 1, practiced with the team Monday.

Jason Robertson scored in his fourth straight game for the Stars and has goals in six consecutive contests against the Wild going back to the regular season. Miro Heiskanen also scored for Dallas and Oettinger made 40 saves.

Both Dallas goals came on its power play, which has scored eight goals in 19 chances during the series. The Wild are 3-for-19 with the man advantage and have just one goal in their past 15 opportunities.

However, Minnesota has registered 11 even-strength goals to just three for Dallas.

“It’s almost the blue paint wars,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “If you get there and find some pucks and win some battles . . . it’s really hand-to-hand combat in the blue paint for both sides.”

Stars defenseman Nils Lundkvist was ruled out of Game 5 on Monday after leaving Game 4 with a facial cut from the skate of Wild forward Michael McCarron in the second period.

–Field Level Media

After taking a second straight home loss in “embarrassing” fashion, the Boston Bruins are on the brink of elimination as the scene of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series shifts back to Buffalo.

The Sabres will look to land the knockout punch against their Atlantic Division rivals and earn their first playoff series win since 2007 in Game 5 on Tuesday night.

Buffalo’s 6-1 win in Game 4 on Sunday quickly became a laugher. Four first-period goals were more than enough, and Alex Lyon was 39.9 seconds away from shutting out the Bruins in his second straight start in the series.

“We have an extremely high-competitive group. We all have a standard that we all carry ourselves to — and it wasn’t met,” said Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who appeared to yell at his teammates while exiting the bench after being relieved by Joonas Korpisalo in the third period.

The Bruins have never come back from a 3-1 series deficit (0-25) and the Sabres have never let such a lead slip away (7-0) in each franchise’s playoff history.

While history certainly does not favor Boston, the series is not over yet.

“As far as I know, you have to win four games to move on. So they’ve got three. That means we still have a chance,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm told reporters after Sunday’s game. “I can cry about it, but I also have to push my guys for the next game and make sure our intensity is gonna be there.”

“We have a one-game mission,” Sturm added on Monday.

Buffalo’s dominant start on Sunday made Lindy Ruff one happy coach, and not just because his team scored the opening goal for the first time in the series and built a commanding lead.

“That first period was the best period we played all year,” Ruff said. “Puck pressure, scoring opportunities. We moved the puck and got the puck up ice. We didn’t spend much time in our end.”

On Sunday, six different Sabres scored goals, with four of them adding an assist as well.

One shining star in the series has been defenseman Bowen Byram, whose tally at the end of the four-goal frame marked his third in the last three games. He finished the game plus-3.

“He’s obviously been awesome all year and has brought it to another level in the playoffs,” said Owen Power, Byram’s defense partner. “It’s nice having him and all the other guys in here that have some playoff experience to lean on and have them help lead us.”

Byram won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.

Power, Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch have all notched points in all four games of the series, with Power and Krebs logging those streaks to begin their playoff careers. Krebs scored the first goal just 4:17 into Sunday’s game.

The rock-solid team effort has extended to the net, where Lyon took over for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in relief in Game 2 and has since posted a league-best .964 save percentage in the playoffs.

The vibes are good in Buffalo, but the message is clear: The Sabres still have to finish.

“We’ve done a good job in this series, but the fourth one is always the hardest,” Byram said of the challenge of closing.

The Bruins had to shuffle their Monday practice lines with forward Viktor Arvidsson and defenseman Nikita Zadorov both off for maintenance days. Arvidsson left Game 4 due to an upper-body injury and did not return.

“We still have to check with medical, but we have to wait until probably (Tuesday) on both of them,” Sturm said of both players’ status.

Ruff expects Buffalo forwards Jason Zucker and Tyson Kozak — who both missed time in Sunday’s third period — to be available going forward.

–Field Level Media

The Nashville Predators signed forward Vitali Pinchuk to a one-year, entry-level deal for the 2026-27 season on Monday.

The 24-year-old Belarus native finished third in the KHL in goals (31) and tied for sixth in points (66) in 2025-26.

New guy in gold ??

We’ve signed forward Vitali Pinchuk to a one-year, entry-level contract for the 2026-27 season.

More details » https://t.co/2H84zc68yb pic.twitter.com/NTcuImjOHD

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) April 27, 2026

Pinchuk played in 65 games for Dinamo Minsk this season and was selected to his third KHL All-Star Game.

The 6-foot-3, 203-pound center has 145 points (73 goals, 72 assists) in 252 career games with Dinamo Minsk since 2020.

–Field Level Media