Ducks flying high after overtime win
EDMONTON — Jakob Silfverberg scored the overtime winner for the Anaheim Ducks in a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday to even their playoff series 2-2.
Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf fed Silfverberg for a one-timer 45 seconds into overtime. Getzlaf had two goals and two assists with Rickard Rackell also scoring for the Ducks.
John Gibson made 29 saves for the win, while Oilers counterpart Cam Talbot had 35 saves in the loss.
Drake Caggiula, Connor McDavid and Milan Lucic replied for the hosts.
The road has been kinder than home ice so far in this best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal.
Anaheim won two in a row in Edmonton after the Oilers opened with a pair of victories at the Honda Center.
Game 5 is Friday in Anaheim and returns to Rogers Place for Game 6 on Sunday.
Caggiula’s equalizer at 18:18 of the third period pushed the game into overtime for the first time in the series. He snapped a rebound over Gibson four seconds after time expired on an Anaheim minor penalty.
Edmonton led 2-0 after the opening period on goals from Lucic and McDavid.
Getzlaf sparked Anaheim’s surge, scoring 97 seconds into the second and producing a go-ahead goal at 14:25.
With his 35th and 36th career playoff goals, Getzlaf surpassed Teemu Selanne as the franchise all-time leader.
Patrick Eaves was scratched Wednesday due to a lower-body injury suffered in Game 3, so Corey Perry was reunited with Getzlaf on Anaheim’s top line with Rakell.
Getzlaf pounced on a rebound that Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins failed to clear to give the visitors a 3-2 heading into the third.
Rakell pulled the Ducks even at 5:33 when Getzlaf threaded a goalmouth pass over to him to bat past Talbot’s glove.
Edmonton unsuccessfully challenged goaltender interference on Getzlaf’s goal at 1:37. The Oilers contended Perry bumped Talbot as he was beaten five-hole on a wrist shot.
Gibson held off the Oilers over the first 10 minutes of the game when they outshot the Ducks 8-3. McDavid was the most dangerous player in the opening minutes with a pair of scoring chances.
The Oilers captain salvaged an attempted give-and-go with Leon Draisaitl when McDavid’s pass deflected off Shea Theodore’s skate and back to him.
Edmonton’s captain swept the puck over Gibson at 17:43 for his second goal of the series and fifth of the post-season.
Draisaitl’s cross-ice pass from the boards deflected towards Anaheim’s net when Lucic spun and tapped the loose puck in for a power-play goal at 15:38. The Ducks were serving a bench minor for too many men. PITTSBURGH — Forget about revenge for the brutal crosscheck that knocked Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby out of the playoffs indefinitely.
Marc-Andre Fleury didn’t want any part of it. The Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender came up with a more effective method of retribution against the Washington Capitals
“The best way to make them pay is winning,” Fleury said.
Something the defending Stanley Cup champions keep doing no matter who is — and who isn’t — in the lineup.
Fleury stopped 36 shots, rookie Jake Guentzel took advantage of a fortunate bounce for his playoffleading eighth goal and Pittsburgh pushed Washington to the brink of elimination with a 3-2 victory in Game 4 on Wednesday night.
Game 5 is Saturday night in Washington.
Outplay and outshoot the Penguins all you want. Outscoring them is another matter entirely.
Patric Hornqvist provided the Penguins with an early boost and Justin Schultz’s power-play goal just past the game’s midway point was enough for Fleury to do the rest.
Rendered a backup most of the season behind Matt Murray, Fleury is now Pittsburgh’s most vital player, one who seems to thrive in the face of Washington’s incessant pressure.
“He’s elevated his game at an important time,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s a competitive guy. He’s a Stanley Cupwinning goaltender and I think he’s showing it.”
Consider the Capitals believers. Washington has pumped 142 shots at Fleury through four games, nearly 50 more shots than the Penguins have managed the other way (93). And yet all those opportunities have translated into just one victory.
“We had good chances and we didn’t bury them,” Washington coach Barry Trotz said. “Our backs are against the wall.”
Again. One more win by Pittsburgh and the Penguins will send the Presidents’ Trophy winners home for the ninth time in 10 playoff meetings. The Capitals insist it’s not mental, though at times they were their own worst enemy. Guentzel’s goal came when a crossing pass deflected off Washington defenceman Dmitry Orlov and by Braden Holtby.