It's crunch time for Canada's NHL playoff teams

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After Calgary's 4-1 win in Dallas last night, all three NHL playoff series involving Canadian teams are tied 2-2 and heading north for Game 5. To get you ready for the de facto best-of-three battles ahead, here's a quick check-in on each of the matchups:

Calgary vs. Dallas

Scoring might be up in the NHL these days, but not in this series. The Flames and Stars are averaging a combined 3.5 goals per game — a full three goals below the league average for these playoffs. The leading scorers on each team — Johnny Gaudreau for Calgary, Joe Pavelski for Dallas — are tied for 30th overall with just four points apiece. Conversely, the goalies — Dallas' Jake Oettinger and Calgary's Jacob Markstrom — are the top two in save percentage.

The silver lining to the lack of fireworks is that this might be the only truly close series. Yes, six of the eight first-round matchups are tied 2-2. But, as we talked about in yesterday's newsletter, there have been a ton of blowouts. The average margin of victory in every other series is at least three goals. In Calgary-Dallas, it's two. And all three of the multi-goal wins were capped by empty-netters, so the games have been even closer than that average suggests.

WATCH | Flames level series with Stars:

Edmonton vs. Los Angeles

This series is the anti Calgary-Dallas. Since L.A.'s 4-3 win in Game 1, we've been treated to blowouts of six, six and four goals. The average victory margin is a whopping 4.25 goals — half a goal higher than in any other series. Game 4 was pretty typical: after losing by six goals in back-to-back games, the Kings blanked