EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) 鈥� After having a total of four goals through the first three games of the , the Edmonton Oilers broke out in a big way with offense coming from some unlikely sources to avoid being swept by the Florida Panthers.
Mattias Janmark scored short-handed three minutes into , Dylan Holloway had two goals to break his lengthy drought, Darnell Nurse got his first of the playoffs and Adam Henrique buried what turned out to be the winner. The result was an Saturday night that sent the series back to 麻豆传媒AV Florida for Game 5 on Tuesday night.
鈥淭o win, you need everybody,鈥� said winger Connor Brown, who set up Janmark's goal on a 2-on-1 rush. 鈥淚t obviously can鈥檛 always be the big boys. To get us going there with a couple goals, it鈥檚 important. That鈥檚 kind of what you need.鈥�
The big boys pitched in, too, of course. had a goal and , and Leon Draisiatl and Zach Hyman each picked up their first two points in the final.
But coach Kris Knoblauch said Janmark and Brown 鈥渕ight've been our best two players.鈥� They set the tone early, and the rest of the Oilers followed.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e both been fantastic,鈥� McDavid said. 鈥淏oth huge pieces of the team. The job they did on the kill, I thought the whole line played great. They really got us going.鈥�
That third line of Janmark, Henrique and Brown combined to put the Oilers up two early, an important boost given the Panthers' push that resulted in a goal from Vladimir Tarasenko.
Henrique's goal seven minutes in was his second in the final in his career and came 12 years since he also had the winner for New Jersey down 3-0 to the Los Angeles Kings that extended that series.
All in all, 15 of Edmonton's 18 skaters registered a point.
鈥淣ice to score a couple of goals to give fans something to cheer about, nice to break through finally," Janmark said. "The top players carry the load on a lot of nights but depth scoring, there has to be nights where we chip in. ... Hopefully, we have a few more.鈥�
Knoblauch considered the victory more of a continuation of his team's strong play from Games 1 and 3 than the result of a big adjustment he made to the top two lines, putting Warren Foegele on McDavid's left wing opposite Hyman and dropping Ryan Nugent-Hopkins down to skate with Draisaitl.
鈥淲e definitely got the goal-scoring,鈥� Knoblauch said. 鈥淲e were able to put the puck in the net. It was just an amount of time that it was going to happen. But I don鈥檛 know. Overall, I thought it was pretty good, I guess.鈥�
But McDavid, who played for Knoblauch in the junior Ontario Hockey League with the Erie Otters, credited the first-year NHL head coach who took over in November for making another change that paid off.
鈥淗e knows our team well,鈥� McDavid said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 been here long enough now to understand the different dynamics, both on and off the ice. He鈥檚 done a great job all playoffs long understanding the group, understanding maybe what tweaks are needed. I thought he did another great job tonight in adjusting that way.鈥�
Production down the lineup had less to do with that adjustment and more to do with good line chemistry turning into secondary scoring.
鈥淚t鈥檚 massive," Holloway said. 鈥淲hen everyone鈥檚 chipping in, that鈥檚 when we鈥檙e at our best.鈥�
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AP NHL playoffs: and
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
