ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) 鈥� Ryan Poehling scored 2:29 into overtime, and the Anaheim Ducks pushed Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers to the brink of first-round elimination with a 4-3 victory in Game 4 on Sunday night.
Jeffrey Viel tied it with 6:29 left in regulation for the Ducks, who rallied from an early two-goal deficit and another third-period hole before taking a 3-1 series lead with over the back-to-back Western Conference champion Oilers.
completed their NHL-best 10th multi-goal comeback of the season when hit an Edmonton skate in front and reluctantly trickled under goalie Tristan Jarry, who had played well in his first playoff start for his new team. Poehling celebrated immediately, even though he wasn’t totally sure the game was over.
鈥淚 thought I saw some white (between the puck and the goal line) when I was behind the net,鈥� Poehling said. 鈥淭hen everyone was celebrating. Did it go in? I’m like, 鈥業 think so?鈥� But yeah, I thought so right away.”
An extensive video review revealed no reason to overturn the judgment on the ice that the puck had barely crossed the goal line underneath Jarry鈥檚 skate. Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch was unconvinced.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 see it going in,鈥� Knoblauch said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 see the line. … The (initial) goal call on the ice was probably about 60 to 90 seconds after (the shot), maybe even more. They huddled when they got to center ice and then they made the (initial) call that it was a good goal. I don鈥檛 know. Wasn鈥檛 very definitive.鈥�
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Edmonton.
Cutter Gauthier and Mikael Granlund scored power-play goals in the second period for the Ducks, who have scored 20 goals in four games to begin their team’s first Stanley Cup playoff series in eight years. Lukas Dostal stopped 24 shots and made a pair of spectacular saves on McDavid in the final minutes.
鈥淲e’re just playing so connected right now, and we’re doing a good job of doing the right things,鈥� said Anaheim defenseman Jackson LaCombe, who leads the NHL in postseason scoring with eight points after recording two assists in Game 4. 鈥淲e’re all just feeling great, and I think we’re all competing to the best of our ability, and it’s just paying off right now.鈥�
Evan Bouchard scored a tiebreaking goal early in the third period and Jarry made 34 saves for the Oilers. Kasperi Kapanen and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored first-period goals.
Edmonton nearly won it late in regulation, but save to deny McDavid on a late breakaway 鈥� and Dostal added another big stuff of McDavid in the final minute. The Oilers鈥� superstar center, who is suspected to be dealing with an injury, had two assists in Game 4.
Jarry struggled for Edmonton right after arriving in a midseason trade with Pittsburgh, losing his job to Connor Ingram. But with the Oilers struggling mightily to stop the fast, exciting Ducks, Knoblauch made the switch and got a solid effort from Jarry, who hadn鈥檛 played since April 8.
The Oilers also improved their defensive structure after a shambolic Game 3 鈥� and yet the energetic, hungry Ducks still pumped in four more goals despite never leading.
Kapanen silenced the raucous sellout crowd at Honda Center 38 seconds after the opening faceoff with his fourth goal in four games. Nugent-Hopkins then scored just Edmonton鈥檚 second power-play goal of the series.
The Ducks began yet another comeback with vicious wrist shot from Gauthier, their 22-year-old top scorer. Anaheim鈥檚 once-awful power play has scored in eight consecutive games.
Granlund and Leo Carlsson then teamed up for a fluid give-and-go to tie it.
Bouchard ripped a wrist shot for a tiebreaking goal just 4 seconds into an Oilers power play, but the Ducks鈥� fourth line tied it again, with Viel punching home a rebound of John Carlson鈥檚 shot for his second career playoff goal.
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