Stars stun Wolves in overtime, force decisive Game 5

Texas was 10.1 seconds from going home when Kole Lind dragged the series back from the brink, and Artem Shlaine finished the rescue 8:40 into overtime as the Stars beat the Chicago Wolves 5-4 in Game 4 to force a decisive Game 5.

The rally at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, came after Texas had already erased a two-goal hole in the third period. Vladislav Kolyachonok started the push by cutting into the lead with 7:54 left in regulation, Cameron Hughes kept the pressure on with a goal and two assists, and Antonio Stranges added a goal and an assist to keep Texas within striking distance. When Lind tied it late, the Stars had already turned a season-ending loss into a game Chicago could no longer close out.

Shlaine then ended it on the power play, with Hughes and Stranges earning the assists on the winner. Rémi Poirier made 19 saves for Texas and delivered the stop the Stars needed in overtime before the breakthrough finally came, earning his first playoff overtime win in four career tries. On the other side, Cayden Primeau stopped 32 shots for Chicago and turned aside Matthew Seminoff on a diving glove save in overtime before Shlaine beat him.

The victory squared the best-of-five Central Division semifinal at 2-2 and preserved a series that has swung back and forth from the start. Texas opened with a 2-0 shutout in Game 1 on April 28, when Shlaine scored twice and Poirier posted a 16-save shutout. Chicago answered with a 5-4 overtime win in Game 2 on April 30, then took Game 3, 2-1, on May 2 to move within one win of advancing before Texas extended the matchup again on Sunday, May 3.

Chicago’s scorers in Game 4 were Bradly Nadeau, Evan Vierling, Ivan Ryabkin and Noah Philp, but the Wolves could not finish off a Texas team that refused to break. Afterward, captain Josiah Slavin summed up the swing in emotion, saying, “It doesn’t feel good,” and acknowledging that with a 4-2 third-period lead, the Wolves had felt they were moving on. Instead, Tuesday’s Game 5 at Allstate Arena became the new finish line, with one side’s season on the line and the other riding the belief that it has already survived its most dangerous night.