Morning Player Notes of the Playoffs (May 6)

The Dallas Stars provided an adequate response to be being blown out in Game 3 earlier in the week, as they found a way to grind out an overtime win against the St. Louis Blues, leveling up the series at 2-2.

It wasn't looking great off the hop for the Stars, as a bad giveaway led to a 1-0 deficit, but they really had to dig deep, scoring a pair in the 2nd period, before giving up the tying goal before the end of the middle frame.  The 3rd period was a grind, which led to the overtime session.  It was back-and-forth right off the hop, chance at the Dallas end went back the other way and Cody Eakin buried one in the St. Louis end, giving the Stars the extra time win.

Kari Lehtonen made 24 saves for the win, while Eakin had the bonus point, Patrick Sharp and Jamie Benn each chipped in with a pair of points.

On the losing end, Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and an assist, as he's starting to heat up in this series, but it wasn't enough for the victory and now these teams will head back to the Big D, all knotted up.

The first triple overtime game of the 2016 playoffs arrived late last night, as did the non-pool game-winning goal from Mike Fisher, just after midnight MT, as the Nashville Predators stayed the course in this series, evening it up at a couple of games a piece.

The Predators were trying to edge their way to a Game 4 win all night, but San Jose had an answer for the first couple attempts of getting away, then tried to pull away in the 3rd period themselves, which was answered by the Preds, with four minutes to go.

The overtime sessions were pretty exciting, as the goalies stood on their heads throughout, but it was a rebound that led to the winner and an even series.

As for notable players, on the winning side, Colin Wilson was the top Nashville player in the pool, picking up a goal and a pair of assists, but they all fall to the wayside, as he wasn't picked at all.  James Neal, taken twice, had a goal and an assist in the win, while defensemen Mattias Ekholm (taken once) and Ryan Ellis (taken six times) each had a couple of assists.

In the loss, Brent Burns, Paul Martin and Logan Couture, all three feature with picks on the sheet, were all good for a couple of points each.

The weekend will see this series continue back in San Jose, which is poised to be a great game.