And all of a sudden, it's all tied up..The Edmonton Oilers came out of the gates fast and ended up beating the Las Vegas Golden Knights 4-1 to tie their best of seven series at two apiece..Nick Bjugstad scored at 6:46 of the first period to open the scoring. He picked up a Klim Kostin rebound behind the net and wrapped it around on the backhand..Less than a minute later, Evan Bouchard ripped a 95-mph slapshot on the power play to score his fourth goal of the playoffs, helped by Connor McDavid’s 11th assist and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ seventh..Leon Draisaitl passed from the right side of the ice to catch a streaking Mattias Ekholm on the left. His top-corner shot gave the Oilers a 3-0 lead. Kailer Yamamoto got a secondary assist..Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the only goal of the second period, his first of the playoffs, with an assist from Darnell Nurse. The goal followed an intense sequence of shots and passes where the Oilers dominated the offensive zone at even strength..Nicolas Roy scored for Vegas at 5:58 of the third period. The goal was his only goal of the playoffs, with William Carrier getting his only assist of the playoffs, and Shea Theodore his fourth. The play started in Vegas’ defensive zone with a give-and-go between Roy and Carrier..As the third period ended, Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo made a high slash on Leon Draisaitl’s arms. Connor McDavid engaged Pietrangelo, but the referees intervened. Darnell Nurse and Nicolas Hague had a lively fight. Nurse skated away blowing a kiss to Hague..The series is tied at two wins each and goes to Las Vegas for Game 5 Friday. Game 6 will be held in Edmonton Sunday..Canada’s other hope, the Toronto Maple Leafs, staved off elimination by getting its first win against the Florida Panthers in Game 4. Only four times in NHL history has a team overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a seven-game series..Leon Draisaitl leads the playoffs in scoring at 17 points, trailed by Matthew Tkachuk at 16, Connor McDavid and Roope Hintz at 15, and Evan Bouchard and Mitchell Marner at 14..Earlier in the day, Oilers captain Connor McDavid was named as a finalist for the Ted Lindsay award for the most outstanding player as voted by fellow members of the NHL Players’ Association. The Bruins’ David Pastrnak and the Sharks’ Erik Karlsson are also finalists. .McDavid won the trophy three times before. Only Wayne Gretzky (five) and Mario Lemieux (four) have won it more.
