NHL Three Stars: Flyers stay alive; Stars, Sharks take 3-1 series lead

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Philadelphia Flyers' Colin McDonald, right, and Washington Capitals' Matt Niskanen, center, collide as Ryan White skates past during the second period of Game 4 in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs, Wednesday, April 20, 2016, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

No. 1 Star: Michal Neuvirth, Philadelphia Flyers

In Game 4 for the Flyers, it was win or go home for the summer. Neuvirth started in his first game of the series after Steve Mason took the net in the first three. Philly responded to the change. The goaltender made 31 saves in the Flyers 2-1 win. The series moves back to Washington where the Capitals will have another go at closing out the series.

Neuvirth's clutch save

R1, Gm4: Michal Neuvirth makes a huge pad save on Tom Wilson in front of the net to keep the Flyers ahead in the 3rd period

No. 2 Star: Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks

The Sharks scored all three of their goals on the power play. Marleau assisted on Joe Pavelski's PPG and scored one of his own that would stand as the game winner. 

Marleau's PPG extends lead

R1, Gm4: On the power play, Patrick Marleau finds the loose puck and backhands it past Jonathan Quick to give the Sharks a 3-0 lead in the 3rd

No. 3 Star: Jason Spezza, Dallas Stars

The Minnesota Wild held the lead twice in the game, and both times Dallas came back. Spezza assisted on Patrick Eaves's redirect goal on the power play to tie it up, and scored on a deflection off his skate for the 3-2 game winner. Dallas heads back home with a 3-1 series lead.

Spezza's skate deflects home puck

R1, Gm4: Jason Spezza has a pass from Jason Demers deflect off his skate and under the right arm of Devan Dubnyk, giving the Stars a 3-2 lead

Honorable Mention: Birthday boy Shayne Gostisbehere scored his first NHL playoff goal on the power play to start the scoring for the Flyers:

Gostisbehere's PPG opens scoring

R1, Gm4: On the power play, Shayne Gostisbehere rifles it from the point, putting it by Braden Holtby to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead in the 1st

Andrew MacDonald and T.J. Oshie were the two other goal scorers in the game. The Flyers blocked 29 shots to the Capitals 12. The two teams combined for 81 hits total ... Jaromir Jagr scored his 200th career playoff point as the Florida Panthers beat the New York Islanders 2-1. The series is now tied and shifts back to Florida. Roberto Luongo made 26 saves in the win. John Tavares scored his third goal of the playoffs with this one coming on the power play ... In his first game of the series for the Stars, Antti Niemi had 28 saves. One goal he couldn't stop was this beauty by Charlie Coyle off a pass from Jason Zucker. Even better than the goal was the hug afterwards.

Coyle's amazing effort for goal

R1, Gm4: Charlie Coyle settles a bouncing puck, fends off a defender and slips it by Antti Niemi, regaining the lead for the Wild in the 2nd

... Trevor Lewis and Luke Schenn scored within about four minutes of each other in the third period to bring the Kings with a goal of the Sharks. Martin Jones picked up 27 saves in San Jose's win. The two teams combined for 81 hits. Roman Polak and Jake Muzzin lead their respective teams with 7 hits each. Drew Doughty played a ridiculous 30:33 TOI.

Dishonorable Mention: Scary moment when Scott Laughton was stretchered off the iceafter colliding with the boards. Good news is all tests came back negative. He's being held overnight in the hospital as a precaution. Brandon Manning appears to make contact with the head of a falling Tom Wilson as he's blasted to the ice. There was no penalty on the play. To discipline or not?

... The 'dumbest coach's challenge in NHL history' happened in the Islanders-Panthers game ... Tyler Seguin was held out of Game 4 with a lower-body injury. Minnesota's penalty kill was 0-for-2 against Dallas. The Wild's power play had a 6-on-4 for 90 seconds to close out the game and could not capitalize ... San Jose has a 3-1 series lead over LA. Should the Sharks be worried?