The Edmonton Oilers bounced back from a tough home loss with a strong performance to even their second-round playoff series.
On Wednesday night, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist, leading the Oilers to a 4-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. This win tied the series at two games apiece.
Nick Bjugstad, Evan Bouchard, and Mattias Ekholm also scored for the Oilers, who built a four-goal lead by the second period. Connor McDavid added two assists, and Stuart Skinner made 25 saves.
“We’ve got to follow it up,” McDavid said. “Someone’s got to do it two nights in a row. It’s got to be us.”
Nicolas Roy scored the lone goal for Vegas in the third period. Adin Hill, making his first NHL playoff start, stopped 29 shots after playing in the series’ previous two games.
Game 5 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Friday night in Las Vegas, with Game 6 returning to Edmonton on Sunday.
“We think when we’re at our best, we are a very tough team to handle,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “I’ve seen it so far in two of the four games. The challenge will be to put them together back to back and win a game in a tough building.”
The Golden Knights won Game 1 with a 6-4 score, and the Oilers took Game 2 with a 5-1 victory in Las Vegas. Edmonton lost 5-1 at home in Game 3 but managed to earn a split with this win. To advance to the Western Conference final, the Oilers must secure at least one road victory.
“It was a great response tonight, but we need to replicate that in Game 5,” Nugent-Hopkins said.
Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was given a major and a game misconduct with less than 90 seconds left in the game. After Leon Draisaitl missed an empty net, Pietrangelo slashed the Oilers’ forward across the arms. McDavid then confronted Pietrangelo in the corner.
“You’d like to see it reviewed for sure,” McDavid said. “I mean it’s as intent to injure as you can get. … Time, score, clock, all play a factor. He comes from over his head and places it under Leon’s chin. You’d like to see something like that suspended. It’s not a hockey play.”
The penalty-filled third period saw all infractions occurring in the final 10 minutes. Vegas’ Chandler Stephenson and Jonathan Marchessault received misconduct, along with Edmonton’s Kailer Yamamoto and Evander Kane. Additionally, Vegas’ Nicolas Hague and Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse were sent off for fighting, with Nurse also receiving an instigator penalty and misconduct. Vegas’ Brett Howden was also handed a misconduct with 25 seconds left.
Bjugstad forced a turnover by Shea Theodore in the offensive zone, and after Klim Kostin missed the net, Bjugstad got the puck behind the goal line and banked a backhand off Hill’s leg at 6:46 of the first period to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead.
With Theodore serving a slashing minor, Bouchard scored his fourth power-play goal of the playoffs at 7:38, doubling the lead. McDavid, from behind the goal line, fed Bouchard for a one-timer.
Ekholm scored his first of the playoffs with a blast from the top of the faceoff circle to beat Hill on the far side, making it 3-0 with 6:30 left in the opening period.
Vegas captain Mark Stone trailed that play in pain after he went down by Edmonton’s net. Stone missed 39 regular-season games after back surgery but returned for the playoffs.
“We put ourselves in a bad spot early,” Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Managing the puck, staying out of the box … we didn’t do either of those in the first period well enough.
“You start chasing the game, and now they’re excited, and they’re thinking, ‘We’re going to bounce back,’ and they get to their game.”
The Oilers killed off consecutive penalties midway through the second period. Zach Hyman took a cross-checking minor, and Skinner was penalized for playing the puck outside the trapezoid. Pietrangelo hit the crossbar during the Knights’ second-man advantage.
Nugent-Hopkins also got his first of the playoffs, beating Hill with a wrist shot from the slot off a pass from McDavid from the boards to make it a four-goal lead with 5:15 left in the second.
“Happy to get one tonight, but more so happy to contribute to a big win for us,” Nugent-Hopkins said.
Roy chipped the puck upstairs over Skinner’s glove at 5:58 of the third period for his first goal of the playoffs.
Edmonton’s power play, converting at a 56% rate in the playoffs, went 1 for 6. The Oilers also held Vegas to 0 for 4.
NEXT GOALIE UP
Due to injuries, Vegas started five different goalies during the regular season, a trend that continued into the playoffs.
Laurent Brossoit started eight straight playoff games but was replaced by Hill in the first period of Game 3 due to an apparent left leg injury. Hill stopped all 25 shots he faced over the remaining 48 minutes in the Knights’ 5-1 win.
Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy said before Wednesday’s game that he wouldn’t know how long Brossoit would be sidelined until the team returns to Vegas.
Jonathan Quick, acquired at the NHL trade deadline, served as the backup behind Hill, with Jiri Patera as the third-stringer.