<p><span style="font-weight: 400">I’ve been wrong a time or 10 over all the years I’ve been watching and writing about hockey, but seldom as spectacularly and totally so as Sunday after the Los Angeles Kings jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the Edmonton Oilers in the first period.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">“They’ve got to put Jack Campbell in,” my wife said during intermission after Stuart Skinner was beaten three times on 11 shots. “No chance,” I said. “That would be the worst thing they could do. Skinner is the guy. No way you pull him for Campbell.” So, out comes Campbell to start the second period. “Well, that’s it then,” I sneered.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Twenty-seven saves by Campbell and an overtime goal by Zach Hyman later, we’d watched one of the greatest and most unlikely comebacks in the history of the franchise in a <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/gdb-4-0-wrap-up-oilers-knot-series-with-kings-at-2-2-thanks-to-comeback-win-capped-off-by-zach-hyman-overtime-winner">5-4 overtime win that has the teams back in Edmonton for Game 5 Tuesday with the series even at 2-2</a>. A roller-coaster ride it was.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Having witnessed Kelly Buchberger’s OT winner against the Dallas Stars back on April 20 in 1997 in a playoff game the Oilers trailed 3-0, I can’t say I’ve never seen anything like it. That was the same series the Oilers stunned the Stars in seven games on Todd Marchant’s OT winner. Still, this was a kick in the pants.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">What we didn’t have back then was social media like Twitter and a written record of how the emotions of fans swung a full 360 from despair to jubilation hand-in-hand and play-by-play with what was happening out on the ice as the Oilers refused to fold. Wasn’t that something?</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_132269" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-132269" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-132269" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/USATSI_20526537_168383996_lowres-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="682" srcset="https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/USATSI_20526537_168383996_lowres-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/USATSI_20526537_168383996_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/USATSI_20526537_168383996_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/USATSI_20526537_168383996_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/USATSI_20526537_168383996_lowres-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-132269" class="wp-caption-text">Apr 23, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Edmonton Oilers goaltender Jack Campbell (36) defends the goal against the Los Angeles Kings during the second period in game four of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure>
<h2>THAT WAS SOMETHING</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Leon Draisaitl was a horse again with two goals. Evan Bouchard scored the 1-0 goal and added two assists. Evander Kane shook off an injury that’s obviously nagging him to pull the Oilers even 4-4 with three minutes left in regulation. But it was Campbell who set the stage for Hyman in OT, making a </span><a href="https://www.nhl.com/video/campbell-stones-arvidsson/t-277350912/c-16824542"><span style="font-weight: 400">pad save on Viktor Arvidsson</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> in alone to keep the Oilers within a goal at 4-3 with six minutes to go.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">“It just speaks volumes,” said Campbell, who hadn’t been in the crease since April 1. “I think we&#8217;ve been battling hard like that all year and faced some adversity. They came out hot in the first, but nobody got down. We came out and just worked hard all night and got a big goal against a good team in overtime.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">“Guys were saying the right things like they always are. We&#8217;ve got great leaders in here. Not just one single guy. It&#8217;s so many guys and pretty much everybody. Each guy stepped up at certain times throughout the year and no different tonight.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Coach Jay Woodcroft thought about pulling Skinner after Anze Kopitar made it 3-0, but opted to wait. “The only debate I had was when I was going to do it,” he said. “Were we going to try and get to the end of the period or were we going to do it after that third goal? We decided to wait until we could get into the room. Once we did that, we kind of took off from there.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">The rest we know. Then came Kane and Hyman, who took a stretch pass from Bouchard and </span><a href="https://www.nhl.com/video/hyman-rips-in-overtime-winner/t-343579040/c-16825105"><span style="font-weight: 400">sifted it past Joonas Korpisalo</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400">, and the celebration was on. I’m guessing those of you who were high-fiving last night will be raising the roof at Rogers Place tomorrow, as you should.</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">zach hyman with the game four overtime winner and this series is tied up at 2. <a href="https://t.co/SBRxEkffyA">pic.twitter.com/SBRxEkffyA</a></p>
<p>&mdash; zach (@zjlaing) <a href="https://twitter.com/zjlaing/status/1650355729864486913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h2><b>THE BOTTOM LINE</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">What we’ve got today is a best-of-three series in a city that is energized. Instead of all the armchair experts telling us everything that’s wrong with the team and what needs to be done next, as they did after the first period last night, we’ve got a debate about whether Campbell or Skinner should get the next start. My best guess is it’ll be Skinner, but what do I know? </span></p>
<hr />
<h2 class="mb-5 text-2xl font-bold" style="text-align: center">THE PLAYOFF WATCH PARTIES</h2>
<p><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-132270" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-24-at-10.19.53-AM-1024x569.png" alt="" width="1024" height="569" srcset="https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-24-at-10.19.53-AM-1024x569.png 1024w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-24-at-10.19.53-AM-300x167.png 300w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-24-at-10.19.53-AM-768x427.png 768w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-24-at-10.19.53-AM.png 1390w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></p>
<div class="mb-5">Want to join us for a playoff watch party? We’ll be at Greta for every away game during the playoffs! <a class="text-accent" href="http://gretabar.com/book" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Book your table today.</a></div>
<div>
<hr />
</div>

<span style="font-weight: 400">I’ve been wrong a time or 10 over all the years I’ve been watching and writing about hockey, but seldom as spectacularly and totally so as Sunday after the Los Angeles Kings jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the Edmonton Oilers in the first period.</span>



<span style="font-weight: 400">“They’ve got to put Jack Campbell in,” my wife said during intermission after Stuart Skinner was beaten three times on 11 shots. “No chance,” I said. “That would be the worst thing they could do. Skinner is the guy. No way you pull him for Campbell.” So, out comes Campbell to start the second period. “Well, that’s it then,” I sneered.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">Twenty-seven saves by Campbell and an overtime goal by Zach Hyman later, we’d watched one of the greatest and most unlikely comebacks in the history of the franchise in a <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/gdb-4-0-wrap-up-oilers-knot-series-with-kings-at-2-2-thanks-to-comeback-win-capped-off-by-zach-hyman-overtime-winner">5-4 overtime win that has the teams back in Edmonton for Game 5 Tuesday with the series even at 2-2</a>. A roller-coaster ride it was.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">Having witnessed Kelly Buchberger’s OT winner against the Dallas Stars back on April 20 in 1997 in a playoff game the Oilers trailed 3-0, I can’t say I’ve never seen anything like it. That was the same series the Oilers stunned the Stars in seven games on Todd Marchant’s OT winner. Still, this was a kick in the pants.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">What we didn’t have back then was social media like Twitter and a written record of how the emotions of fans swung a full 360 from despair to jubilation hand-in-hand and play-by-play with what was happening out on the ice as the Oilers refused to fold. Wasn’t that something?</span>

[caption id="attachment_132269" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]<img class="size-large wp-image-132269" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/USATSI_20526537_168383996_lowres-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="682" /> Apr 23, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Edmonton Oilers goaltender Jack Campbell (36) defends the goal against the Los Angeles Kings during the second period in game four of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports[/caption]
<h2>THAT WAS SOMETHING</h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400">Leon Draisaitl was a horse again with two goals. Evan Bouchard scored the 1-0 goal and added two assists. Evander Kane shook off an injury that’s obviously nagging him to pull the Oilers even 4-4 with three minutes left in regulation. But it was Campbell who set the stage for Hyman in OT, making a </span><a href="https://www.nhl.com/video/campbell-stones-arvidsson/t-277350912/c-16824542"><span style="font-weight: 400">pad save on Viktor Arvidsson</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> in alone to keep the Oilers within a goal at 4-3 with six minutes to go.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">“It just speaks volumes,” said Campbell, who hadn’t been in the crease since April 1. “I think we've been battling hard like that all year and faced some adversity. They came out hot in the first, but nobody got down. We came out and just worked hard all night and got a big goal against a good team in overtime.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">“Guys were saying the right things like they always are. We've got great leaders in here. Not just one single guy. It's so many guys and pretty much everybody. Each guy stepped up at certain times throughout the year and no different tonight.”</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">Coach Jay Woodcroft thought about pulling Skinner after Anze Kopitar made it 3-0, but opted to wait. “The only debate I had was when I was going to do it,” he said. “Were we going to try and get to the end of the period or were we going to do it after that third goal? We decided to wait until we could get into the room. Once we did that, we kind of took off from there.”</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400">The rest we know. Then came Kane and Hyman, who took a stretch pass from Bouchard and </span><a href="https://www.nhl.com/video/hyman-rips-in-overtime-winner/t-343579040/c-16825105"><span style="font-weight: 400">sifted it past Joonas Korpisalo</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400">, and the celebration was on. I’m guessing those of you who were high-fiving last night will be raising the roof at Rogers Place tomorrow, as you should.</span>

https://twitter.com/zjlaing/status/1650355729864486913?s=20
<h2><b>THE BOTTOM LINE</b></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400">What we’ve got today is a best-of-three series in a city that is energized. Instead of all the armchair experts telling us everything that’s wrong with the team and what needs to be done next, as they did after the first period last night, we’ve got a debate about whether Campbell or Skinner should get the next start. My best guess is it’ll be Skinner, but what do I know? </span>

<hr />

<h2 class="mb-5 text-2xl font-bold" style="text-align: center">THE PLAYOFF WATCH PARTIES</h2>
<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-132270" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-24-at-10.19.53-AM-1024x569.png" alt="" width="1024" height="569" />
<div class="mb-5">Want to join us for a playoff watch party? We’ll be at Greta for every away game during the playoffs! <a class="text-accent" href="http://gretabar.com/book" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Book your table today.</a></div>
<div>

<hr />

</div>

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