Tracey Myers of NHL.com tweeted this afternoon that Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer told the media this afternoon that forward Evgenii Dadonov will miss Game 5 against the Vegas Golden Knights with a lower-body injury. DeBoer didn’t rule the 34-year-old out of the playoffs entirely but did go on to say that his injury is more than a day-to-day injury.
Dadonov, who missed Game 4 with the injury, saw a resurgence with the Stars after coming over just before the trade deadline from the Montreal Canadiens. He’s been playing at a level not seen since 2017-2020 with 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 find a home for the past three seasons. Dadonov also likely has an axe to grind with Vegas after he was traded without his permission at last year’s trade 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 last night on an overtime goal from Joe Pavelski, they will need a lot more of that magic if they are going to have any chance of coming back against the Golden Knights, as they still trail in the series by a score of 3-1. They will have to do so in the absence of Dadonov, who has been one of their more consistent scorers in the playoffs.