04/27/26 01:05:00
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04/27 01:03 CDT Ryan Poehling scores early in OT, Ducks push Oilers to the
brink with 4-3 win in Game 4
Ryan Poehling scores early in OT, Ducks push Oilers to the brink with 4-3 win
in Game 4
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) --- 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 it 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 with their third consecutive victory over the back-to-back
Western Conference champion Oilers.
The Ducks completed their NHL-best 10th multi-goal comeback of the season when
Poehling's sharp-angled shot hit an Edmonton skate in front and reluctantly
trickled under goalie Tristan Jarry, who had played well in his first playoff
start for his new team. Poehling celebrated immediately, even though he wasn't
totally sure the game was over.
"I thought I saw some white (between the puck and the goal line) when I was
behind the net," Poehling said. "Then everyone was celebrating. Did it go in?
I'm like, ?I think so?' But yeah, I thought so right away."
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.
Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch was unconvinced.
"I can't see it going in," Knoblauch said. "I can't see the line. ... The
(initial) goal call on the ice was probably about 60 to 90 seconds after (the
shot), maybe even more. They huddled when they got to center ice and then they
made the (initial) call that it was a good goal. I don't know. Wasn't very
definitive."
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Edmonton.
Cutter Gauthier and Mikael Granlund scored power-play goals in the second
period for the Ducks, who have scored 20 goals in four games to begin their
team's first Stanley Cup playoff series in eight years. Lukas Dostal stopped 24
shots and made a pair of spectacular saves on McDavid in the final minutes.
"We're just playing so connected right now, and we're doing a good job of doing
the right things," said Anaheim defenseman Jackson LaCombe, who leads the NHL
in postseason scoring with eight points after recording two assists in Game 4.
"We're all just feeling great, and I think we're all competing to the best of
our ability, and it's just paying off right now."
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 Dostal made a sprawling pad save
to deny McDavid on a late breakaway --- and Dostal added another big stuff of
McDavid in the final minute. The Oilers' superstar center, who is suspected to
be dealing with an injury, had two assists in Game 4.
Jarry struggled for Edmonton right after arriving in a midseason trade with
Pittsburgh, losing his job to Connor Ingram. But with the Oilers struggling
mightily to stop the fast, exciting Ducks, Knoblauch made the switch and got a
solid effort from Jarry, who hadn't played since April 8.
The Oilers also improved their defensive structure after a shambolic Game 3 --
and yet the energetic, hungry Ducks still pumped in four more goals despite
never leading.
Kapanen silenced the raucous sellout crowd at Honda Center 38 seconds after the
opening faceoff with his fourth goal in four games. Nugent-Hopkins then scored
just Edmonton's second power-play goal of the series.
The Ducks began yet another comeback with vicious wrist shot from Gauthier,
their 22-year-old top scorer. Anaheim's once-awful power play has scored in
eight consecutive games.
Granlund and Leo Carlsson then teamed up for a fluid give-and-go to tie it.
Bouchard ripped a wrist shot for a tiebreaking goal just 4 seconds into an
Oilers power play, but the Ducks' fourth line tied it again, with Viel punching
home a rebound of John Carlson's shot for his second career playoff goal.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
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