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Was it in? What Edmonton Oilers players said after controversial OT goal

Preston Hodgkinson
Preston Hodgkinson
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Apr 27 2026, 12:00 pm
Was it in? What Edmonton Oilers players said after controversial OT goal
Sportsnet

The Edmonton Oilers have been pushed to the brink of elimination, but it took a controversial OT goal against to get to this point.

Edmonton was not able to steal a game from the Anaheim Ducks in California, dropping Game 4 on Sunday night in OT by a score of 4-3. The Ducks now have a 3-1 stranglehold on the series heading back to Alberta.

It was Ryan Poehling who netted the winner for the Ducks, but it wound up being one of the most controversial moments of the entire playoffs so far.

Poehling shot the puck toward the Edmonton net, had it bounce off Darnell Nurse’s skate and somehow squeak past Tristan Jarry into the net. At least, that’s what the NHL determined, but there has been no replay that shows the puck definitely across the goal line.

There was confusion at first, with no official making an immediate goal call. After a brief huddle, the officials determined that the on-ice call was a ‘good goal’ and an inconclusive video review allowed it to stand as the game-winner.

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Oilers players, understandably, were not too happy with how things played out. The main source of angst is around how the officials were able to make the ‘good goal’ on the ice when nobody was in a position to see the puck potentially crossing the line.

If it had been ruled ‘no goal’ on the ice, it would have likely stayed that way after review due to no angle conclusively showing the puck across the goal line.

“I don’t know how they see it as a conclusive goal,” Mattias Ekholm said after the game. “Maybe there is somebody that can prove me otherwise. Doesn’t really matter, to be honest,  they called it a goal.”

The goal put a sour taste in what was an otherwise excellent outing for Jarry in the Oilers net. There were some legitimate fears about going to him in such an important game, but he wound up being the least of Edmonton’s problems in the loss.

He gave his perspective on the controversial winner after the game as well, and he agreed that it didn’t look like a conclusive goal.

“It’s hard. We were just looking at it in there, and you really can’t tell,” Jarry said. “I’m sure you could go either way with it. You could say it’s a goal, no goal, there’s going to be opinions about it.

“On the losing side, we didn’t think it went in, but it’s tough.”

Even Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch, who usually tends to steer away from controversy, offered his candid thoughts on the play. He agreed with his players on the inconclusivity of the play and said that the officials didn’t really offer much of an explanation as to why they called it a good goal on the ice.

It was clear that Edmonton didn’t agree with the process from the players up to the coaching staff.

“I didn’t get any communication [on the on-ice call]… I can’t see it going in, I can’t see the [goal] line,” Knoblauch told reporters.

“I’d guess the goal call on the ice was probably about 60 to 90 seconds after, maybe even more. They huddled and got to centre ice, and then they made the call that it was a good goal. I don’t know, it wasn’t very definitive.”

Captain Connor McDavid was also asked about the play, but did not seem interested in offering his perspective. He simply said he hadn’t seen much of it.

It’s a play that now puts Edmonton in a 3-1 series hole, and they now must win three straight to keep their season alive. If they can’t do it, their year could come to an end in Rogers Place on Tuesday night.

Do or die.

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