Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz: Oilers can close out Flames in Game 5

Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz, a daily in-depth look at the 2022 NHL postseason. There are two playoff games scheduled for Thursday, the 25th day of the postseason.

On Tap

New York Rangers at Carolina Hurricanes (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS)

The Rangers and Hurricanes will compete to put their opponent on the brink of elimination with a best-of-7 series that heads into Game 5 tied 2-2. The Hurricanes are 6-0 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs at PNC Arena and could set a Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers record for the longest postseason-opening streak on home ice. The last team with a longer home winning streak in the playoffs was the 2014 Chicago Blackhawks (seven). Teuvo Teravainen has a point in each of Carolina's home games (nine points; two goals, seven assists). A victory would move the Rangers within one of clinching a series after trailing 2-0 for the third time in their 95-season history. They did it against the Montreal Canadiens in the 1996 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals and the Washington Capitals in the 2013 conference quarterfinals.
Edmonton Oilers at Calgary Flames (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS)
The Oilers can advance to the Western Conference Final for the first time in 16 years with a victory against the Flames. Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl has 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in the four games; two players in NHL postseason history had more in one series: Wayne Gretzky (14 for the Oilers in the 1985 Campbell Conference Final) and Rick Middleton (14 for the Boston Bruins in the 1983 Adams Division Final). Calgary has never rallied from down 3-1 in a series since joining the NHL as the Atlanta Flames for the 1972-73 season.

What We Learned

Reunited and it feels so good for Thomas, Blues

The St. Louis Blues were desperate for offense in Game 5 with their season at stake, so Robert Thomas was reunited with Pavel Buchnevich and Vladimir Tarasenko to form a line that was effective during the regular season. They were broken up because each player struggled in the playoffs. Tarasenko had no goals in the first four games against the Colorado Avalanche. Buchnevich scored his first goal in Game 4 of the Western Conference Second Round and Thomas had yet to score in the postseason after having 20 goals in the regular season. The dividends were immediate; Thomas scored twice, including the one that tied the game 4-4. Tarasenko started the comeback with his second-period goal and added an assist, and Buchnevich assisted on each of Thomas' goals. "[Thomas] had a great game," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "That line had a great game, along with other people. I thought that they possessed the puck a lot more tonight, competed in the offensive zone and made some plays." -- Shawn P. Roarke, senior director of editorial

About Last Night

St. Louis Blues 5, Colorado Avalanche, 4 (OT)

The Blues came back from down three goals, keeping their season alive when Tyler Bozak scored 3:38 into overtime to guarantee Game 6 on Friday. Nathan MacKinnon scored the first two goals of the game and Gabriel Landeskog made it 3-0 at 4:02 of the second period. Then Tarasenko, Thomas and Jordan Kyrou scored, with Kyrou tying the game 3-3 at 15:14 of the third period. After MacKinnon scored to give him a hat trick at 17:14, Thomas scored with 56 seconds left in the third for the latest game-tying goal by a Blues player when facing elimination. St. Louis became the first team to score two game-tying goals in the final five minutes of the third, also when facing elimination.