Ryan Getzlaf was a one-man wrecking crew at a big moment for the Anaheim Ducks.
Getzlaf on Wednesday scored twice and assisted on two goals, including Jakob Silfverberg’s game-winner 45 seconds into overtime, as the Ducks topped the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in Game 4 of their second-round playoff series.
“If he keeps doing this, we’re going to have [a] 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.”
Photo: AP
Rickard Rakell also scored for Anaheim, who have 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, while 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 minutes, 18 seconds of the third period. It was the rookie’s first career playoff point.
“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.”
With his 35th and 36th playoff goals, Getzlaf surpassed Teemu Selanne as the franchise’s 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.”
“I feel good right now, I’ll put it that way. It’s a fun time of year. I love playing right now,” Getzlaf said.
In Pittsburgh, the Penguins found a way to win without injured star Sidney Crosby.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 36 shots and rookie Jake Guentzel took advantage of a fortunate bounce for his playoff-leading eighth goal as the defending Stanley Cup champions held off the Washington Capitals 3-2 in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semi-final series.
Justin Schultz scored in a second straight game and Patric Hornqvist picked up his third of the post-season as Pittsburgh took a 3-1 series lead.
The Penguins played without Crosby, who is out indefinitely with a concussion suffered in Game 3.
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