The Oilers set an NHL record with their fifth straight playoff comeback win after Zach Hyman scored the late winner in a 4-2 victory over the Golden Knights in Tuesday's Game 1 at T-Mobile Arena
LAS VEGAS, NV – Never down and out.
That is the Edmonton Oilers way.
After being tagged twice in the opening nine minutes, the Edmonton Oilers rushed back with four straight goals over the remaining two-and-a-half periods on Tuesday to claim their fifth straight playoff comeback victory, defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 at T-Mobile Arena to take a 1-0 advantage in their Second Round series.
The Golden Knights scored their only two goals in the first half of the opening frame before veteran Corey Perry made it 2-1 before the intermission with his third goal of the postseason, setting the stage for a dominant final two periods from the Oilers where they reversed course in emphatic style to become the first team in NHL history to win five straight playoff games by way of the comeback.
Edmonton outshot Vegas 12-1 in a scoreless second period before putting three past netminder Adin Hill in the final frame, tying the game on a lucky bounce for Leon Draisaitl from below the goal line less than a minute into the period before Zach Hyman notched the game-winning goal with 3:02 left in regulation on an unstoppable wrist shot from the slot that gave his side the late 3-2 lead.
Just 1:16 later, winger Connor Brown added the insurance marker with a fantastic solo effort, skating all the way up ice alone and burning defenceman Shea Theodore in the neutral zone before potting his fourth of the playoffs under the left arm of Hill to secure the 4-2 victory and a 1-0 series lead for the Oilers.
Goaltender Calvin Pickard, making his fifth straight start between the pipes for the Oilers, stopped 15 of 17 shots to improve to 5-0-0 this postseason.
Leon Draisaitl finished with a goal and an assist, while Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard each contributed two helpers. Evander Kane and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also contributed assists on Hyman’s game winner in the third period.
The Oilers now look ahead to Thursday night’s chance back at T-Mobile Arena in Game 2 to take command of the series heading back to Oil Country.
The Oilers score four unanswered goals to defeat Vegas in Game 1
It took Vegas scoring twice through captain Mark Stone in the first nine minutes before Edmonton finally found its footing in Game 1 when veteran Corey Perry made it 2-1 before the intermission after starting this series on a loaded top line alongside Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made it a difficult start for the Oilers before the game was even two minutes old by being assessed a double minor for high-sticking against centre Tomas Hertl, which was held up by an official review to put his side on an extended penalty kill to begin the series.
Just 40 seconds into the first minor, defenceman Shea Theodore’s shot from the top of the zone took a double deflection off two Golden Knights on its way past Calvin Pickard, getting its final touch off the skate of Mark Stone to make it 1-0 for Vegas only 2:13 into the contest.
John speaks to the media after the Oilers won Game 1 vs. Vegas
Approaching the midway mark, Leon Draisaitl had the puck on his stick coming over the Vegas blueline when he tried to make a pass to Connor McDavid that was broken up to the Golden Knights back the other way on the rush, where they were one of the best teams in the NHL during the regular season.
On the ensuing attack, the puck was dropped to Mark Stone in the slot by Jack Eichel, who avoided the sliding Corey Perry before throwing it five-hole on Pickard to double the Vegas advantage to 2-0 at the 10:57 mark of the opening frame.
The Oilers haven’t been strangers to comeback victories in these playoffs, having won four straight games in the First Round against the Kings via the comeback. The Golden Knights were the last team to do it before them, which unfortunately for the Oilers happened during their 2023 Second Round series against them after Vegas trailed in each game of their six-game triumph before going on to win their franchise’s first Stanley Cup.
No one in NHL history has won five straight games by way of the comeback in a single postseason, and the Oilers would have to become the first team to do it if they were going to be victorious in Game 1 on Tuesday night.
Perry cuts back & slides it past Hill to make it 2-1 in the first period
Winger Trent Frederic struck the post a few minutes before Perry was able to get the Oilers on the board with 3:34 left in the opening frame, starting with a long pass to the Vegas blueline from the far corner in Edmonton’s zone to pick out Draisaitl, who sent it across to McDavid on the other side of hte ice before the captain found Perry wide open in front.
While goaltender Adin Hill slid towards him, the 39-year-old forward went back the direction he came, sliding his third goal of the playoffs into the wide-open cage to cut into the Golden Knights’ lead at 2-1 before the intermission.
Perry notched his 57th career postseason goal in his 222nd career playoff game, moving past Brad Marchand for the fourth-most points among active players and tying Kris Draper for the ninth-most playoff games in NHL history. McDavid’s primary helper was his 90th career postseason point, becoming the second-fastest player to reach the mark ahead of Mario Lemieux (97) and behind only Wayne Gretzky (63) in NHL history.
McDavid now has 11 points (5G, 6A) in 7 career postseason games against Vegas and extended his playoff point streak to five games (1G, 7A) after helping his side cut the lead to one heading into the first intermission.
Zach talks to the media after recording the game-winning goal
The Oilers came out of the intermission with a more complete effort in the second period, but the Blue & Orange lacked the goal they needed to even things up through 40 minutes.
Adam Henrique came close to equalizing early in the frame when his quick shot from the slot had Adin Hill rooted in place inside his crease before the puck struck the right post, allowing the Golden Knights to escape early pressure from the Oilers.
Edmonton was applying one-way pressure against Vegas in the first half of the frame and turned their hard work into a pair of power plays before the midway mark that they weren’t able to capitalize on despite building on each man advantage.
McDavid had a great opportunity on the second power play with a wrist shot from the top of the circles that needed Hill to come up with a flashy glove save to maintain the Golden Knights’ slender advantage that was coming under threat from the Oilers in the second period.
The Oilers outshot the Golden Knights 12-1 in the second period, and while they still trailed 2-1 through two frames in Vegas, there was a sense that it was coming for them heading into the final 20 minutes.
Calvin & Corey speak to the media as the Oilers won Game 1 in Vegas
Don’t call it a comeback – we’ve been here many times already in these playoffs.
Why not do it again and make NHL history?
No lead is safe against the Oilers, and they proved that again in Game 1 on Tuesday night by becoming the first team in NHL history to have five straight comeback victories in the same postseason, starting with Draisaitl’s lucky bounce from below the goal line less than a minute into the third period.
Draisaitl ties the game at 2-2 on a backhand bank from below the line
After McDavid crossed the Vegas blueline on the rush, a shot from the point from Evan Bouchard took a deflection to send it just below the goal line, where Draisaitl quickly threw it back into the crease for it to bounce kindly off the netminder’s pad and slowly trickling over despite Hill trying to take a swipe at it.
Draisaitl tied it 2-2 with his fourth goal of the playoffs, and it was over half a period later where Zach Hyman completed the comeback with a snipe off the rush that was anything but lucky.
Evander Kane and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins exchanged passes coming into the Vegas zone before picking out the trailer in Zach Hyman, who was alone in the slot to pick his spot cleanly over the left shoulder of Hill to make it 3-2 for the Oilers with only 3:02 remaining in regulation.
Hyman scores the eventual game-winner with a third-period snipe
With McDavid and Draisaitl together on the top line, Hyman was shifted to the second line with Kane and Nugent-Hopkins in another terrific showing from the team’s depth that shined through when it needed it the most.
The Golden Knights didn’t even get the opportunity to pull their goalie for the extra attacker, because Connor Brown was about to assemble one of the nicest – and most clutch – goals of his career to put the game out of reach for the hosts with under two minutes left in the third period.
Brown took off with the puck after it fell to him in the right circle of Edmonton’s zone, making a terrific move at centre ice on Shea Theodore to make the Vegas blueliner turn the wrong way and allow him to speed in on a break away and fire the insurance marker under the left arm of Hill to finish it off.
The Oilers took Game 1 on the road to take a 1-0 series advantage heading into Game 2 back at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday night.
Brown buries the insurance marker on a breakaway late in the third
