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 the game 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.
This is Anaheim’s third consecutive victory over the back-to-back Western Conference champion Oilers.
The Ducks won when Poehling’s sharp-angled shot reluctantly trickled under Edmonton goalie Tristan Jarry, who had played well in his first playoff start for his new team. 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’s skate.
Tuesday night’s Game 5, in front of Edmonton’s home crowd, is do-or-die for the Oilers.
Cutter Gauthier and Mikael Granlund scored power-play goals in the second period for the Ducks, whose first playoff series in eight years has been an exciting demonstration of their revamped roster’s ample skill.
Lukas Dostal stopped 24 shots for Anaheim, which has scored 20 goals in four games against the vaunted Oilers.
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 Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal made a spectacular, sprawling pad save to deny McDavid on a late breakaway. The Oilers’ superstar captain has a goal and two assists in the series.
