The captain stepped up when the team needed him most.
The Anaheim Ducks found themselves in a 2-0 hole Wednesday after the first period of Game 4 against the Edmonton Oilers, but erased the deficit with three unanswered goals in the second. Two were scored by Ryan Getzlaf, who earned the primary assist on the third.
For him, it was all about walking the walk.
"I can say anything I want in the dressing room, but I have to go out and live it," Getzlaf said after the win, according to the Ducks' website. "I tried to do that in the second period and the group went along with it. We kept playing."
Though the Oilers tied the game late in the third, Getzlaf beautifully assisted Jakob Silfverberg's overtime winner, drawing praise from head coach Randy Carlyle.
"It's just another exclamation point on the type of player he's been for our hockey club," Caryle said. "He's our captain and leader. He's done a lot of things that go unnoticed. Now, in these situations in the playoffs, he's been a guy who has stepped to the forefront. Even the play in overtime, he read that, cut the pass off, and found Silfverberg all alone."
The four-point effort was the second of Getzlaf's postseason career, while the two strikes marked his first career multi-goal playoff game.
Game 5 is set for Friday in Anaheim with the series tied 2-2.
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