LAS VEGAS — The Edmonton Oilers winning the first game of a playoff series was rare. Coming from behind to do it was not.
Edmonton's 4-2 victory at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday to kick off a second-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights was just the third time in six straight years of reaching the playoffs that the Oilers won a series opener.
Game 2 is Thursday at T-Mobile.
"It gives you a great opportunity," said Oilers forward Zach Hyman. "You steal one in their rink, and now you have a chance to take both. We haven't been in that spot a lot.
"We've always kind of had to fight from behind in the series, and it's nice to get the first one out of the way early."
Mark Stone scored twice for Vegas before Corey Perry halved the deficit before the end of the first period.
Edmonton still trailed 2-1 heading into the third period despite outshooting the Golden Knights 12-1 in the second.
Leon Draisaitl netted the equalizer 57 seconds into the third. Hyman produced the go-ahead goal with three minutes remaining in the third before Connor Brown sealed it with a breakaway goal a minute 16 seconds later.
Edmonton became the first team in NHL history to win five straight games coming from behind in a single post-season. They've outscored opponents 18-6 in the third period and overtime over seven playoff games.
"That's part of having a mature, older group," Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said. "I don't know where we rank in playoff games. I would assume we're very high among the NHL teams. I know we are the oldest team, so both players have seen a lot and a lot of good things, a lot of bad things.
"They know that during the playoffs, things fluctuate. There's a lot things that can stress out the team. No matter what happens, I think we handle it really well.
"We play a really good second period, we have nothing to show for it. There's no panic, and we just came out in the third and continued business."
Oilers captain Connor McDavid contributed two assists while Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel shadowed him for most of the night.
With 91 career assists in 81 playoff games, McDavid became the second-fastest player in history to reach 90 after Wayne Gretzky in 65 games.
Calvin Pickard had 15 saves to become the first Oilers goalie to go 5-0 in the playoffs since Grant Fuhr in 1985, according to Sportsnet Stats.
Pickard was instrumental in helping kill off a Brown penalty for goaltender interference early in the third period after the Oilers drew even. Edmonton's goalie stopped Thomas Hertl on his doorstep as the penalty expired.
Hyman's go-ahead goal started in the defensive zone with a heads-up pass from John Klingberg to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins streaking through the neutral zone.
Klingberg underwent double hip surgery last year and played just 11 regular-season games after signing with the Oilers in January.
Since getting into Edmonton's lineup in Game 2 of the first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings, the 32-year-old Swede has replaced some of the quality back-end minutes lost with Mattias Ekholm out of the lineup.
"The way I move right now on the ice, I felt very comfortable with my new hips and all that," Klingberg said. "So I feel like it's just getting better and better."
Pickard had a front-row seat on Klingberg's puck handling and distribution.
"I hope everybody noticed how good he was out there tonight. He was dancing back there," the goalie said. "A big reason why we didn't give up a ton was how good our defence were breaking the puck out and they didn't have a ton of sustained forechecks because we were moving the puck really well and he was definitely the culprit back there."
Evan Bouchard reached a career 50 playoff assists with a pair in his 60th game Tuesday, which made the 25-year-old the second-quickest to that number after Bobby Orr (59).
Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill, from his knees, lunged for a Bouchard long bomb that deflected into the air. Draisaitl batted the bouncing puck off Hill and into the Vegas net for an important equalizer to start the third period.
"Yes, we'd like to get a better start, the first goal and cruise from there," Knoblauch said. "We know that's not the case, but I think if you can pick a period that you're going to be the strongest in as a coach, you want to be best in the third period because that's where it's going to come down to.
"I've been very happy with our third periods."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 6, 2025.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
