Flames   4   OT

Kings    3

In what has likely been the most evenly contested contests of the playoffs the hometown Kings fell just short and find themselves on the brink of elimination heading back to Calgary. This game featured some good old fashioned animosity with a line brawl breaking out at the 2:59 mark of the second period which appeared to energize the home crowd and in turn the Kings. LA took the lead at the 12:18 mark of the third and tried to nurse it until the end but penalties got them into trouble all game and the Flames tied it with only 1:33 left on the clock to force overtime. That was the third goal of the game on the PP and the Flames wasted little time in stealing away the win scoring a mere 37 seconds into the first overtime. Of note here was that Antti Raanta and his heroic goaltending display of the last few games was forced into a night off due to exhaustion and may still not be available in game 5. Flames lead series 3-1

Hawks    4

Preds     3

Credit has to be given to GM Dave Yee as his largely ineffective squad was rallied in this one. After being outplayed throughout this series the GM changed around some pieces and strategy and it resulted in their most complete effort to date. Also of note was that "the King" was given the night off in goal as he like other goalies was suffering from exhaustion so Robin Lehner made only his second start of these playoffs. This certainly is not to suggest the Preds were outplayed as up until the 15:56 mark of the third period the game was tied at 3 and anybodys to win or lose. The shots were 32-30 for the Blackhawks which was the most to date in the series for the Hawks and the first time in 4 games that the Hawks outshot the Preds. This will surely be alot of fun to watch which of these 2 talented teams survives this series. Series tied at 2 heading back to Chicago!