Veteran Jack Campbell steadied the net for the Edmonton Oilers Sunday as the team erased a three-goal deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Kings 5-4 in overtime of Game 4.
Campbell replaced Stuart Skinner, who has started every game in the series, after Skinner allowed three goals on 11 shots in the first period.
The 31-year-old turned aside 27 of 28 shots faced in relief as the Oilers stormed back from 3-0 to force overtime and eventually tie the series at 2-2.
"Not at easy situation," Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said of Campbell. "Hasn't been an easy year for him, but the way he showed up tonight was really, really great, and we're very fortunate to have him."
Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said the decision was made to pull Skinner to try to change the momentum after a slow start.
"We have a good goaltending tandem," Woodcroft said. "I have belief in both of our goaltenders. That's not assigning any blame on Stuart for the way the first period went, but I felt our team needed a little change in momentum and give us a different kind of look. The only debate I had was when I was going to do it. 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 took off from there."
Woodcroft declined to say who would start Game 5 in Edmonton.
"We'll sleep on things and see where we're at after that," Woodcroft said.
Campbell joined the Oilers as free agent last summer on a five-year, $25 million contract after previously serving as the starter for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He went 21-9-4 in first season with the team with a .888 save percentage and a 3.41 goals-against average. He lost his starting role to Skinner late the season, making just five starts over the final six weeks of the season. Prior to Game 4, Campbell had last played on April 5.
Skinner, who went 29-14-5 in the regular season with a .914 save percentage and a 2.75 GAA, is 1-2 in the postseason with a .881 save percentage and a 3.38 GAA.
