Adam Larsson scored his second goal of the third period with 4 minutes, 40 seconds to play as the Edmonton Oilers blew a two-goal lead in a wild third period before beating the Anaheim Ducks 5-3 on Wednesday in their second-round playoff series opener.
Mark Letestu scored two power-play goals and Cam Talbot made 33 saves for the upstart Oilers, who seized home-ice advantage from the Ducks with a four-goal final period.
Jakob Silfverberg scored the tying goal with 9 minutes, 13 seconds to play for the Ducks, who lost in regulation for the first time in 19 games since March 10.
Photo: AFP
Larsson scored just four goals in his first 85 games this season, but the Swedish defenseman improbably got two goals in 7 minutes, 30 seconds.
Larsson got the winner when he skated behind the net and threw it in front. The puck banked off Anaheim defenseman Josh Manson’s skate and pinballed underneath John Gibson, who stopped 27 shots.
Leon Draisaitl added an empty-net goal for the Oilers, who did not appear to be feeling any intimidation in their first playoff appearance since 2006.
Connor McDavid’s club followed their ousting of defending conference champions the San Jose Sharks by taking the opener from five-time division champions the Ducks.
Patrick Eaves and Ryan Getzlaf also scored for Anaheim, who had won eight straight games in regulation. The Ducks did not give up a third-period goal during their entire first-round sweep of Calgary.
Everything changed quickly at a sold-out Honda Center. After more than two periods of tight-checking hockey and special-teams play made it 1-1, the teams scored two goals apiece in a 4 minute, 24 second stretch in the third.
Letestu scored his second power-play goal with 13 minutes, 37 seconds to play before Larsson put the Oilers up 3-1. The Ducks promptly sprung to life and attacked the net, with Eaves flipping home a rebound 85 seconds before Silfverberg tied it with his own rebound goal.
Game 2 is to be played today in Anaheim.
In St Louis, Missouri, P.K. Subban had a goal and two assists and Vernon Fiddler scored with 5 minutes, 5 seconds remaining to give the Nashville Predators a 4-3 road win in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series against the Blues.
The Predators lost Kevin Fiala to an ugly leg injury in the second period and blew a 3-1 lead before Fiddler poked a loose puck by Jake Allen in the third. It was the fifth career playoff goal for the 36-year-old Fiddler.
Colin Wilson and Filip Forsberg also scored for Nashville, while Pekka Rinne made 27 saves.
Colton Parayko, Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Sobotka scored for St Louis. Allen finished with 28 stops.
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