*Photo from TSN*
Series tied 2-2
They weren't going to stay down for long. Connor McDavid had two assists, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist, and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-1 on Wednesday in Edmonton.
So far, this series has bounced back and forth, with the Oilers and Golden Knights alternating wins to keep the series tied 2-2 through 4 games. McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins were the only multi point players for the Oilers, who forced a game 6 with the win.
Edmonton head coach Jay Woodcroft said of the win that it was a "Big win for our group. It's a best-of-3 from now on. We believe in playing the game hard whistle to whistle, finishing your check hard in a legal fashion, and when you do that, you wear teams down and you create frustration. It was a good game plan tonight and guys followed it to a T."
Nick Bjugstad started the scoring for the Oilers, giving them a 1-0 lead with his 3rd goal of the playoffs, assisted by Klim Kostin. Evan Bouchard then scored to double the lead to 2-0 with a power play goal. Mattias Ekholm then made it 3-0 Oilers after one period with his first goal of the playoffs, assisted by Kailer Yamamoto and Leon Draisaitl assisting.
The only goal of the second period came from Nugent-Hopkins, making the score 4-0 at the 14:45 mark of the second, assisted by McDavid and Darnell Nurse. 5:58 into the 3rd period, Nicolas Roy got the Golden Knights on the board, making the score 4-1 with assists going to Shea Theodore and William Carrier.
McDavid said after the game that "It is the playoffs. You get down one and that sense of urgency goes way up. It is always disappointing when you lose in the playoffs. It feels not very good. You are used to bringing your best. I expect them to play a really good Game 5 and I expect us to bring our best, too. We have to put two together here."
Getting the start for the Oilers was Stuart Skinner, who had a big game in net to tie the series again. Skinner stopped all but one of the 26 shots the Golden Knights sent at him, giving him a .962 save percentage in the win.
Starting for the Golden Knights was Adin Hill, coming in with Laurent Brossoit out due to injury. Hill made 29 saves out of the 33 shots on goal that the Oilers had, which was good for a .879 save percentage in the setback.
Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said that "I thought tonight was going to be one of those nights where you need your team to be on, no passengers. And I thought some guys were off and we were relying on the goalie to get that big save. He hasn't played a lot of hockey, so a little bit unfair for Adin. We didn't get it, now they've got life, that's how it played out."
Up next, game 5 of the series is on Friday as it heads back to Las Vegas. With the series tied, both teams are going for a 3-2 series lead on the opponent, putting the loser on the brink of elimination.
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