Ryan Getzlaf Changed the Flow of Oilers–Ducks

Maybe it's because he plays on the other coast. Maybe it's because he plays in those hideous uniforms. Maybe it's the hairline. Whatever the reason, Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf barely gets a mention in a conversation about the best players in the NHL today despite a pretty impressive resume.

Perhaps this postseason that changes that.

With the Ducks facing a potential 3-1 series deficit against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, Getzlaf took over in a way that, if composed by any other hockey player, would have resulted in sonnets being penned by fans the world over. He scored two goals and assisted on another as the Ducks rallied from being down two goals in the second period to take a 3-2 lead, and then, after Edmonton tied it up, assisted on the overtime winner for a crucial 4-3 win in Game 4.

Instead of coming back to southern California on the brink of elimination, the Ducks are coming home tied 2-2 in the series and on strong footing thanks to Getzlaf's four-point night.

Most of the Ducks–Oilers series has been about Connor McDavid. Is he doing enough? Is he next the big thing? Is he drawing more penalties than he deserves because he's so great? Or is his greatness not translating to the postseason? That narrative changes every other shift for McDavid.

The other major story from Wednesday's game involves female fans at Rogers Place not being able to use the bathrooms. Taking advantage of overwhelming interest in the postseason, the Oilers had sold tickets for fans to stand in the concourse and watch the game on televisions, which led to overcrowding in the men's rooms, which led to men complaining about the wait, which led to the team converting women's rooms to men's rooms, which has resulted in women waiting as much as 30 minutes to conduct their business during the intermission.

You could say the only line more ineffective than one featuring Jordan Eberle is the stagnant one leading to a women's washroom at Rogers Place.

Changing the flow wasn't a problem for Getzlaf in Game 4.

The Oilers took a 2-0 lead to the first intermission and the Ducks looked every bit as awful as the monstrosities they call road sweaters. It was easy to look to the future: Oilers win the game. They close out the series. Then it's Nashville. Then it's Pittsburgh. Then it's McDavid vs. (maybe) Crosby in the Final, the closest thing the NHL and its fans have to a wet dream at this point of the postseason.

Then Getzlaf shook you awake and reminded you that a Ducks–Senators Cup Final is just as real a possibility.

Getzlaf's two-goal game was the first of his postseason career, and that's when you realize why he's not exactly disrespected, but he's not mentioned in the same breath as other marquee players either. He's in this weird limbo where a four-point night isn't mind-blowing like a four-goal game from a grinder like Jean-Gabriel Pageau, but it's somehow brushed off (maybe because the game ended at 1:10 AM ET).

Getzlaf is a balder, meaner Joe Thornton, which is probably why his name doesn't come up very much in talks about the best players in the league today.

He's not a scorer; he's a playmaker who will rock you with an open-ice hit and happily place his stick on your neck after a face-off. Being an assist man is the kiss of death for any player who doesn't go deep in the playoffs, though, because when your linemates aren't finishing (looking at you, Corey Perry) your game looks worse than it is. When your team is blowing 3-2 series leads and losing to the Blackhawks, the Kings, and the Red Wings all the time, suddenly your reputation isn't as pristine as it should be.

But look at the entirety of Getzlaf's postseason career. In 112 games, he has 112 points. Since 2005, that's the seventh-most points in the league and if the Ducks go another round, he should climb to fourth behind Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Patrick Kane. In regular-season scoring, Getzlaf ranks ninth with 814 points and is four points behind Henrik Zetterberg for seventh place. He's the most under-the-radar borderline Hall of Famer who is active in the league today.

Getzlaf is second in this year's playoffs with 13 points in eight games but, more importantly, the assist machine has a team-best seven goals and scored both of his goals in Game 4 while lugging around the mostly useless body of Corey Perry.

He has five multi-point games and is playing about 23 minutes a night, the most of any forward still active in the postseason. He should be near the front of the early Conn Smythe Trophy talk, but he's buried under an avalanche of Penguins and goaltender Pekka Rinne in Nashville.

At 31 years old, Getzlaf isn't young enough to be making a name for himself in this postseason. With a Stanley Cup under his belt in 2007, he's not a veteran chasing an elusive title that could shift the perception about him. Heck, there probably isn't even a perception about Getzlaf. That's what happens when you're on the third-best team in California in recent years.

At least Getzlaf was nice enough to end the game 45 seconds into overtime, because that probably means that most of the Oilers fans in the building were still on line to get into an overcrowded bathroom and missed the ending.

Talk about sending fans streaming for the exits.

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