EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - Ryan Getzlaf was a one-man wrecking crew at a big moment for the Anaheim Ducks.
Getzlaf scored twice and assisted on two goals, including Jakob Silfverberg’s game-winner 45 seconds into overtime, and the Ducks topped the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in Game 4 of their second-round playoff series on Wednesday night.
“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.”
Rickard Rakell also scored for Anaheim, which has won two in a row after dropping the first two games of the series at home. John Gibson made 29 saves.
Drake Caggiula, Connor McDavid and Milan Lucic scored for Edmonton, and Cam Talbot had 35 stops.
“It’s a 2-2 series now,” Caggiula said. “We have to make sure we play a full 60 minutes going forward here. We were in this situation last series too, and it worked out just fine.”
Anaheim had a 3-2 lead before Caggiula snapped a rebound over Gibson’s head at 18:18 of the third. It was the rookie’s first career playoff point.
Game 5 is Friday night, back in Southern California.
“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.”
Edmonton led 2-0 after the opening period on goals from Lucic and McDavid.
Getzlaf sparked Anaheim’s rally, scoring 97 seconds into the second and producing a go-ahead goal at 14:25. With his 35th and 36th playoff goals, Getzlaf surpassed Teemu Selanne as the franchise’s career leader.
“When he’s your centerpiece 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 Wednesday due to a lower-body injury suffered in Game 3, so Corey Perry was reunited with Getzlaf on Anaheim’s top line with Rakell.
Edmonton unsuccessfully challenged for goaltender interference on Getzlaf’s goal at 1:37. The Oilers contended Perry bumped Talbot as he was beaten on a wrist shot.
“I disagree with the call or I wouldn’t have challenged it,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. “I thought he interfered with blocker and hands and he (Talbot) couldn’t make the save. They didn’t see it that way. They gained a little momentum at that point.”
The Ducks tied it at 2 when Getzlaf threaded a goalmouth pass over to Rakell, who batted it past Talbot’s glove. Getzlaf then pounced on a rebound that Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins failed to clear, giving Anaheim a 3-2 lead heading into the third.
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.
Lucic put Edmonton in front with a power-play goal at 15:38, and McDavid swept the puck over Gibson at 17:43 for his second goal of the series and fifth of the postseason. Leon Draisaitl assisted on each of the first-period goals.
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