The Vancouver Canucks stunned with a comeback win Sunday, beating the Nashville Predators 4-3 in Game 4.
The Canucks now hold a 3-1 series lead over the Preds in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Canucks right winger Brock Boeser opened the scoring 2:55 into regulation, then dug Vancouver out of a two-goal deficit with a pair of goals in the final three minutes of the third. J.T. Miller contributed three assists.
Elias Lindholm scored the game-winner, just 62 seconds into overtime.
“Obviously when you score one of those — OT winner — it’s always a good feeling,” Lindholm told Sportsnet’s Dan Murphy.
“It’s a pretty special moment for our group, especially a day where I think they outplayed us for a heavy portion of the game,” Canucks centre J.T. Miller said post-game. “We’re going to enjoy tonight but we know we got to strap them on a little tighter for next game.”
Artur Silovs was in net for Vancouver, after Casey DeSmith was forced to sit Sunday’s game out with an injury.
Silovs stopped 27 of 30 shots in his NHL playoff debut.
“It’s like incredible … it’s a great feeling,” he told reporters Sunday. He says he found out he would be in net on Saturday.
The 23-year-old says he wasn’t nervous going into his first NHL post-season game, adding he had some time to mentally prepare.
“Coming in here, it’s a tough building to play in and he made some big saves for us. We didn’t play our best game but stuck with it, and when we needed a big stop from him he was there. So it was huge,” Lindholm added of Silovs.
Juuse Saros made 16 saves for Nashville.
DeSmith himself was filling in for Canucks starting goalie Thatcher Demko, who’s expected to be sidelined for much of the playoffs.
In Game 3, DeSmith took a hit from Predators forward Michael McCarron, which netted McCarron a $2,000 fine for goaltender interference. However, it DeSmith’s injury was reportedly not related to that hit.
The Canucks and Predators return to Vancouver for Game 5, which is set for Tuesday, April 30. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.
-With files from Sportsnet and The Canadian Press