Edmonton Oilers set playoff comeback record with Game 1 win vs. Golden Knights
Oilers rally for 5th straight time with 4-2 win in Game 1
One thing is becoming clear during this year's NHL playoffs: Don't count out the Edmonton Oilers.
They rallied from a 2-0 series deficit to oust Los Angeles in six games in the first round. Then they opened the second round Tuesday night by setting a league record with their fifth consecutive playoff comeback victory in a single post-season.
Zach Hyman scored from just above the right circle with 3:02 left in the third period to put Edmonton ahead for good in its 4-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights after falling behind 2-0.
"That's part of having a mature, older group," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. "Players have seen a lot, a lot of good things and a lot of bad things. In the playoffs, things fluctuate.
"There's a lot of things that can stress out the team. No matter what happens, I think we handled it really well tonight."
Vegas, which had just seven shots on goal over the final two periods, lost a playoff game in regulation after leading by at least two goals for the first time. The Golden Knights are 47-4 overall in the post-season with that kind of lead.
Game 2 is Thursday night in Las Vegas.
"We'll go over it and get ready for Thursday night's game," said Mark Stone, who scored both Vegas goals. "It's going to be a big one for us."
Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, and Corey Perry and Connor Brown scored the other goals. Evan Bouchard and Connor McDavid each had two assists. McDavid now has four consecutive post-seasons with at least 10 assists for fourth-best in league history. Calvin Pickard was barely tested after the first period and finished with 15 shots.
"We have experience to win games in a lot of different ways, a lot of untraditional ways," Hyman said. "Any time you get a win, it's a big day. We've got to take what we did in the second and third and do it in the first."
Stone tied Jonathan Marchessault's franchise record with 36 goals for his Vegas career. He also extended his goal-scoring streak to three games. Adin Hill made 24 saves.
Both star-studded top lines delivered in the first period, with Stone scoring twice, the first on a double-minor power play. Edmonton's top unit cut the deficit in half with 3:34 left when Perry deked Hill for an open net with McDavid and Draisaitl getting assists on the play.
Neither team scored in the second period even though the Oilers outshot Vegas 12-1. The Golden Knights had never been held to fewer than two shots on goal in a regulation playoff period.
Edmonton didn't waste a chance early in the third, tying the score 57 seconds in when Draisaitl backhanded a shot off the boards and off Hill.
Hyman, who earlier in the shift took a stick to the face from Kaedan Korczak, snapped the tie in the closing minutes, and Brown sealed the win 1:16 later.
Golden Knights defenceman Alex Pietrangelo did not play because of an illness, allowing Korczak to make his first career post-season start. Vegas also was without Pavel Dorofeyev, who led the team with 35 goals this season, for the second game in a row because of an undisclosed injury. Coach Bruce Cassidy has described him as day to day.
Hurricanes 2, Capitals 1 (OT)
Elsewhere in Tuesday night's NHL playoff action, Jaccob Slavin scored in overtime, Frederik Andersen made 13 saves in his return from injury and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 2-1 in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.
Logan Stankoven started the comeback with his goal midway through the third period off a turnover, beating Logan Thompson after Aliaksei Protas' errant pass off Washington teammate Alex Alexeyev's right skate put the puck on Jesperi Kotkaniemi's stick.
After failing to score on a power play late in regulation, Slavin scored 3:06 into OT from just inside the blue line to give Carolina the series lead.