Oilers push Flames to brink of elimination behind Nugent-Hopkins, Kane's 4 combined goals

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his second goal of the night with 3:27 left in regulation as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Calgary Flames 5-3 on Tuesday to take a 3-1 lead in the teams' second-round playoff series.

Evander Kane, with his NHL-best 11th and 12th of the post-season, and Zach Hyman had the other goals for Edmonton, which got 29 saves from Mike Smith. Leon Draisaitl added three assists.

Connor McDavid also had two assists to give him a league-topping 25 points in 11 playoff outings this spring for the Oilers, who kept their foot on the gas with a third straight victory over their provincial rival.

Jacob Markstrom stopped 21 shots.

After trailing 3-0 after the first period and 3-2 through 40 minutes, Calgary improbably knotted things in the third on an Edmonton power play when Andersson fired a 150-foot clearing attempt from his own end that somehow fooled Smith at 10:56 and stunned Rogers Place.

WATCH | Flames' Andersson scores short-handed goal from distance:

But with the Oilers wobbling, Nugent-Hopkins shovelled home his fourth of the playoffs from Markstrom's doorstep to send the nervous crowd into a frenzy.

Andersson then took a four-minute penalty for high-sticking with 2:40 left to effectively kill off the game before Kane iced it into an empty net.

WATCH | Nugent-Hopkins leads Oilers to big victory over Flames:

Edmonton also held a 2-1 series lead in the first round against the Los Angeles Kings only to play what the Oilers described as their worst performance of the month in a 4-0 loss.

They won't be thrilled with this Game 4 either, but got the victory for a stranglehold on the series.

Markstrom, who had allowed 14 goals in the series before getting pulled after two periods with Calgary trailing