Dallas Stars will be without veteran for Game 5

Tracey Myers of NHL.com tweeted Friday afternoon that Dallas Stars heads coach Pete DeBoer has told the media that forward Evgenii Dadonov will miss Game 5 against the Vegas Golden Knights with a lower-body injury. DeBoer didn’t rule out the 34-year-old out for the rest of the playoffs entirely, but did divulge that Dadonov's injury is more than just a day-to-day issue.

Dadonov, who earlier missed Game 4 with the injury, saw a resurgence with the Stars after coming over from the Montreal Canadiens just before the trade deadline. He has been playing at a level not seen since 2017-2020 (when he was a member of the Florida Panthers), putting up four goals and six assists in 16 playoff games with Dallas.

The injury must be frustrating for Dadonov on a number of fronts. The winger was finally finding his footing after struggling to settle into a home the past three seasons. Dadonov also likely has an axe to grind with Vegas after he was traded without permission at last year’s deadline – only to have the trade reversed when it was discovered that the Anaheim Ducks were on his no-trade list. He was then dealt by Vegas to the Montreal Canadiens for Shea Weber in June 2022. Dadonov struggled to start the season in Montreal, putting up just 18 points in 50 games before finding his current home in Dallas.

The Stars staved off elimination Thursday night on an overtime goal from Joe Pavelski and they will need a lot more of that magic if they are going to have any chance of coming back against the Golden Knights, who still hold a 3-1 advantage in the series. They will have to win at least Game 5 in the absence of Dadonov, who has been one of their more consistent scorers in the postseason.