Oilers proving they’re never out of a game ...Middle East

The Edmonton Oilers’ outlook was bleak.

They were staring down a 3-0 series deficit in Round 1 before Los Angeles Kings coach Jim Hiller’s failed challenge gave them a lifeline. That come-from-behind win rescued the Oilers’ season, and now they cannot be stopped.

By rallying to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 on Tuesday, Edmonton became the first team in NHL history to record five consecutive comeback wins in one post-season.

“You don’t want to be down in five games, but we have the experience that we can come back and fight our way out of it,” Oilers forward Zach Hyman, who scored the game-winning goal with 3:02 left in regulation, told reporters. “You have to have that belief in your group when you’re down that you can come back. If you don’t, you’re not going to win five in a row like that.”

The Oilers have won five of their seven playoff games despite trailing for 50.2 per cent of their total playing time — tied for second most with the Montreal Canadiens and behind only the Tampa Bay Lightning (54.2 per cent). Both of those clubs lasted five games before being eliminated in the opening round.  

Edmonton has been behind entering the third period in five of its seven games this post-season, winning three of them. That is one fewer win than the Oilers had in that situation all regular season, when they went 4-21-0.

Once the puck drops to start the third period in these playoffs, the Oilers become an unstoppable force. They have outscored the Kings and Golden Knights 17-6 in the final frame, including 12-1 during their winning streak. (The lone third-period goal allowed by the Oilers over the past five games came off the stick of Anze Kopitar, who scored 6-on-5 in the waning moments of Game 6.)

“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,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters. “I’ve been very happy with our third periods.”

Eight Oilers players have scored in the third period over the past five games, led by Evan Bouchard and Connor Brown with three goals each. Two of Brown’s goals have been empty-netters, but he punctuated the Oilers’ 4-2 win Tuesday with an impressive end-to-end goal.

Brown’s and Hyman’s goals near the end of Game 1 came on rush scoring attempts. The Oilers out-chanced the Golden Knights 6-0 off the rush at 5-on-5 in the third period Tuesday.

“When we’re playing our best, we’re fast,” Hyman told reporters. “When we’re fast, we wear the other team down, and it’s hard to generate because you’re tired and you have to change.”

The combination of Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid and Corey Perry has spearheaded Edmonton’s attack in the third period. Over the course of the winning streak, those three forwards have shared the ice for 11:38 at 5-on-5 in that period and outscored opponents 2-0. Scoring chances are 8-1 in the Oilers’ favour in those minutes.

Of course, dependable goaltending is also critical to mounting a successful comeback. Since replacing Stuart Skinner as the Oilers’ starter in Game 3 of the first round, Calvin Pickard has saved 3.2 goals above expected in the third period. He has stopped 19 of 20 slot shots on net and all 10 inner-slot shots he has faced. (Pickard, by contrast, has allowed 4.7 goals above expected in the first and second periods across his five starts.)

It probably should not come as a surprise that the Oilers have pulled off such a streak. The battle-tested group, as Hyman told reporters, “(has) experience to win games in a lot of different ways and a lot of untraditional ways.”

Edmonton finding a rhythm should worry the rest of the remaining playoff teams.

“I think it’s kind of a byproduct of us not getting a ton of reps together coming down the stretch, guys not necessarily being fully healthy to start,” McDavid told reporters. “It was definitely a clunky first two games there in (Los Angeles), but I (think) we’ve responded since.

“Our game’s just building. I know that’s weird to say in the middle of the playoffs, but when you don’t have a ton of runaway with the group coming down the stretch, we’re putting the pieces together and building our game as we go. I think you’re seeing it get better and better, and I expect to continue to see it get better and better.”

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