Perfect timing for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ signature Stanley Cup playoff moment

EDMONTON, Alberta — One hundred and thirty two feet.

That’s how far the puck traveled once it left Rasmus Andersson’s stick, evaded the eyes of Mike Smith and hit the back of the net to audible gasps.

“I didn’t know what happened,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “I didn’t see it. I had to check with my coaching staff to see if it was a legal goal.”

There might as well have been a vacuum attached to that game-tying goal, because it sucked the life out of Rogers Place.

For an Oilers franchise that spent close to two decades wandering in the wilderness, it felt like Edmonton’s version of a Bill Buckner moment, where a routine catch became the impossible.

“I don’t think there’s a time in my career where I lost the puck, where I have no idea where it went,” Smith said. “It’s not a very good feeling, personally.”

There was a pit in 18,347 other stomachs, Rogers Place tuned into the theater of the bizarre. The Oilers were nine minutes away from putting a skate to the throat of their archrival, yet they weren’t able to salt away a three-goal lead and suddenly found themselves all-square on one of the wackiest goals you’ll ever see.

One Oiler diehard actually had tears rolling down his face in the seats.

“I think, over time, there has been some scars,” Woodcroft said, of his team, but could have been speaking of the fanbase, too.

No one has more of those scars than Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the longest-serving Oiler.

‘Nuge’ has seen some things in Edmonton since being selected No. 1 overall in 2011.

Eleven years. Eight head coaches. Seven seasons sans playoffs. Five general managers. Two ugly first-round exits. And enough chaos, turmoil and heartbreak to question any sane player’s willingness to stick around.

And yet, through it all, No. 93 willingly signed up for eight more years last June with a $41 million pact that will likely make him an Oiler for life.

It was fitting, then, he would be the player to pick up Smith and save the Oilers from new scar tissue.

Two days after Matthew Tkachuk said the Flames let one player in Connor McDavid beat them, Nugent-Hopkins picked the perfect time to net the biggest goal of his career.

His signature Stanley Cup playoff moment – at long last – for a player who hadn’t scored a postseason goal in Edmonton in a full building until earlier Tuesday night.

“To see him come up big, in a big moment, when the team needed him, it’s inspiring,” Woodcroft said.

Somehow, some way, the underdog Oilers are one win away from their first Western Conference final since 2006. They can close out the Calgary Flames and the Battle of Alberta in Game 5 at the Saddledome on Thursday night.

“I can laugh now, right?” Smith asked.

On a night when McDavid didn’t post a point at even strength, the Oilers got goals from three different players and a herculean effort from their unheralded defense corps.

Woodcroft said his message to his team ahead of Game 4 was: “There’s room for greatness from everyone on our team.”

“Tonight was Ryan’s moment,” Woodcroft said.

In a series with so much focus and attention, deservedly so, on the Oilers’ super line of McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evander Kane, Nugent-Hopkins had the opportunity to play a pivotal role.

“You can’t win with one guy, two guys,” Nugent-Hopkins said.

In some ways, going up against a deeper Flames roster, the Battle of Alberta might be hinged on Nugent-Hopkins’ line and production. His commitment, defensive prowess and all-situation usage were always going to be critical.

But Nugent-Hopkins has now outpaced Tkachuk and is on par with Johnny Gaudreau in points. That is a winning formula for Edmonton.

“He kind of falls under the radar of really good hockey players on our team, just because you have players putting up the numbers they are,” Woodcroft said. “He makes us a deeper team. He allows me to move some of the pieces around the chess board.”

Woodcroft called Game 4 a “gut-check win” for Edmonton.

Smith said the Oilers “could have easily packed it in” when Andersson’s shot sailed down the ice. In past years, past iterations, they might have folded like a cheap tent in a soft wind.

“We never panicked,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “We knew that they’d have a pushback. We stuck together. We didn’t turn on each other at any moment … It’s made us a really good hockey team.”

That’s the thing about scars. They may be not always be pretty, they may be with us forever, but they’re a sign of strength.

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Perfect timing for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ signature Stanley Cup playoff moment

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