EDMONTON — Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf was a one-man wrecking crew in Anaheim’s 4-3 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.
Getzlaf scored twice and assisted on two goals, including Jakob Silfverberg‘s OT winner at 45 seconds, to even up the playoff series 2-2.
"If he keeps doing this, we’re going to have fun time here," Silfverberg said.
"He’s one of the best players in the league and when he plays like he did tonight with that aggressiveness and physicality, he kind of pushes the whole team to move forward with him."
Game 5 is Friday in Anaheim with the best-of-seven conference semifinal returning to Rogers Place for Game 6 on Sunday.
"We haven’t accomplished anything yet," Getzlaf said. "All we did was get our home-ice back. We’ve got to take this one, breathe, breathe, the next day and a half here and get ready for Game 5."
The road has been kinder than home ice so far in this series. Anaheim won two in a row in Edmonton after the Oilers opened with a pair of victories at the Honda Center.
"We’re going into a building where we have had success before," Oilers captain Connor McDavid said.
"We’re comfortable playing there. You never want to play a series where you lose both at home, but that is the case both teams find themselves in. Now it is a race to two (wins)."
Rickard Rakell also scored for the Ducks and John Gibson made 29 saves for the victory.
Drake Caggiula, Milan Lucic and McDavid replied for the hosts, with Cam Talbot stopping 35 shots in the loss.
Oilers coach Todd MacLellan had called Getzlaf "the head of their snake" prior to the series.
With his team trailing 2-0 after the first period, the 31-year-old from Regina sparked a comeback, scoring 97 seconds into the second and producing a go-ahead goal at 14:25.
Caggiula scored late in the third to send the game into an extra period. Getzlaf’s pass from the boards to a wide open Silfverberg for a one-timer ended it quickly.
Getzlaf’s four-point night gives him four goals and four assists in the series. With his 35th and 36th career playoff goals, he surpassed Teemu Selanne as the franchise all-time leader.
"When he’s your centrepiece and he’s doing what he’s doing and accomplishing what he’s doing, you’d have to scratch your head and really dig deep into the archives of when he’s played better," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said.
"He’s been an energized player since our five-day break. Whatever he had on that five-day break, we’re going to find out and give him more of it."
Said Getzlaf: "I feel good right now, I’ll put it that way. It’s a fun time of year. I love playing right now."
Patrick Eaves was scratched due to a lower-body injury suffered in Game 3, so Corey Perry was reunited with Getzlaf on Anaheim’s top line with Rakell.
Caggiula snapped a rebound over Gibson at 18:18 of the third period to pull the Oilers even at 3-3.
Getzlaf pounced on a rebound Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins failed to clear in the second period. Rakell made it 2-2 at 5:33 when Getzlaf threaded a goal-mouth pass over to him to bat past Talbot’s glove.
Edmonton unsuccessfully challenged goaltender interference on Getzlaf’s goal at 1:37. The Oilers contended Perry bumped Talbot as he was beaten five-hole on a wrist shot.
Gibson held off the Oilers over the first 10 minutes of the game when they outshot the Ducks 8-3. McDavid was the most dangerous player in the opening minutes with a pair of scoring chances.
The 20-year-old salvaged an attempted give-and-go with Leon Draisaitl when McDavid’s pass deflected off Shea Theodore’s skate and back to him.
McDavid swept the puck over Gibson at 17:43 for his second goal of the series and fifth of the post-season.
Draisaitl’s cross-ice pass from the boards deflected towards Anaheim’s net when Lucic spun and tapped the loose puck in for a power-play goal at 15:38. The Ducks were serving a bench minor for too many men.
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