The Edmonton Oilers rebounded from a tough home loss with a convincing 4-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night, tying their second-round playoff series at 2-2.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored a goal and added an assist, while Nick Bjugstad, Evan Bouchard, and Mattias Ekholm also found the back of the net for Edmonton, who built a commanding four-goal lead by the second period. Connor McDavid recorded two assists, and goalie Stuart Skinner made 25 saves in the victory.
“We need to follow this up,” McDavid said. “It’s all about consistency—someone’s got to win two in a row, and it has to be us.”
Nicolas Roy scored the lone goal for Vegas in the third period, while Adin Hill made 29 saves in his first NHL playoff start after stepping in during Game 3 due to an injury to Laurent Brossoit.
Game 5 is set for Friday night in Las Vegas, with Game 6 returning to Edmonton on Sunday.
“When we’re at our best, we’re a tough team to handle,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “We’ve shown that in two games this series. The challenge now is to do it back-to-back.”
The Golden Knights won Game 1 (6-4) and Game 3 (5-1), while Edmonton took Games 2 and 4 by identical 5-1 scores. The Oilers must win at least one road game to reach the Western Conference final.
“It was a great response, but we need to replicate it in Game 5,” Nugent-Hopkins emphasized.
In a penalty-filled third period, Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was ejected after slashing Leon Draisaitl across the arms following a missed empty-net attempt. McDavid expressed frustration, calling the slash an “intent to injure” and hoping for a suspension.
Late in the game, both teams saw multiple misconduct penalties, including Vegas’ Chandler Stephenson, Jonathan Marchessault, Nicolas Hague, and Edmonton’s Kailer Yamamoto, Evander Kane, and Darnell Nurse.
Edmonton scored at 6:46 of the first period when Bjugstad forced a turnover and banked a backhand off Hill’s leg. Bouchard doubled the lead with a power-play goal just a minute later, blasting a one-timer set up by McDavid.
Ekholm made it 3-0 later in the period with a shot from the faceoff circle, while Vegas captain Mark Stone left the ice in visible pain during the play.
“We put ourselves in a bad position early,” said Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy. “We didn’t manage the puck or stay out of the box, and that’s where things went wrong.”
Edmonton’s defense held firm, killing off two penalties in the second period, and Nugent-Hopkins extended the lead to 4-0 with his first goal of the playoffs.
Roy finally broke through for Vegas in the third period, scoring his first goal of the playoffs by chipping the puck over Skinner’s glove.
Edmonton’s power play, converting at a 56% rate in the playoffs, went 1 for 6, while Vegas was held to 0 for 4.
GOALTENDING CHALLENGES
The Golden Knights have faced multiple injuries in goal this season, starting five different netminders. Laurent Brossoit, who had started all eight playoff games, left Game 3 with an apparent leg injury. Hill stepped in, stopped 25 shots to finish that game, and started Game 4 in his place.
Jonathan Quick, acquired at the trade deadline, served as Hill’s backup, with Jiri Patera as the third-string option. The timeline for Brossoit’s return remains unclear.