Vasily Podkolzin finally has his time in spotlight for Edmonton Oilers

Vasily Podkilzin did the same thing in Thursday’s overtime as he’s done all season long: Look to Leon Draisaitl.

This time, it just happened to be in overtime of the biggest game the Edmonton Oilers were playing in since Game 7 of last year’s Stanley Cup Final. One that required them to climb all the way back from a 3-0 deficit to briefly take the lead before Florida forced the third overtime of this over-the-top series.

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In it, Draisaitl did what he’s done better than anyone else all season: Put the puck in the back of the net to give Edmonton a 5-4 win and tie the series 2-2 heading back to Edmonton for Game 5 on Saturday (6 p.m., CBC, Sportsnet).

But the Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard trophy winner with a league-leading 52 goals in the regular season hardly did it by himself Thursday.

Vasily Podkolzin spent more time than anyone on Draisaitl’s left wing here in his first season with Edmonton, digging pucks out of corners and doing all the dirty work on to provide elbow grease on a line where the spotlight shone on his talented centre.

And Thursday ended no differently, even though both were playing on different lines in this one.

With the puck sent out of Edmonton’s end by defenceman Mattias Ekholm, Podkolzin had it on his stick for a split second, having spotted Draisaitl just having hopped off the bench, sending a nifty backhand pass clear across the ice and into Florida’s zone.

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Draisaitl caught it in stride, and with one hand on his stick, managed to steer the puck through the legs of both Panthers defenceman Niko Mikkola and Sergei Bobrovsky for the biggest goal of his already illustrious career.

Just don’t ask Podkolzin how the play ended up coming together.

“I can’t tell you right now, it’s more like instincts,” Podkolzin said. “Sometimes you have to risk it, especially in overtime. Yeah, I got lucky there that the pass came through.

“So, it’s a good play.”

And the kind that only happens when two teammates are fantastically familiar with each other, not to mention a well-earned assist for the 23-year-old Russian product who hasn’t always seen his hard work result in points.

On Thursday, Podkolzin ended up with two of them, though it could be argued his assist in overtime was every bit as important as his goal that tied the score 3-3 heading into the third period.

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“There was a little bit of emotion,” Podkolzin said. “Especially in overtime and in the second period, when the game was back and forth.

“But we’re an old team, there are so many old guys we are pretty calm, usually. And I’m calm with them.”

He now has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 20 playoff games while playing primarily in the bottom six. But more importantly, his Oilers now find themselves one step closer to a Stanley Cup, having to win two out of three, instead of four in a row, like one year ago.

And Podkolzin is only too happy to be part of their playoff journey this time around.

“It means everything. These guys have helped me a lot to be really into that,” said Podkolzin, who was traded by the Vancouver Canucks for a fourth-round draft pick. “That’s probably one of the best feelings I’ve ever felt, to be part of this team and to still be playing hockey in June, like I’ve never played before really.

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“That’s awesome to feel.”

Of course, there is still business at hand. And that means focus takes precedent over feelings.

“Controlling emotions is one main thing here,” Podkolzin said. “So, we trust each other, we trust our power play will work and we’ll score some goals. Just be confident and we’ll trust each other and just control our emotions.”

Hopefully, that will help them stay out of the penalty box, and won’t have to dig themselves out of an early hole, as the Panthers power play has scored in all four first periods of the series, so far.

While the beginning of games have left something to be desired, it’s how you finish that counts. And Podkolzin knows next time he finds the puck on his stick while at the end of a game, he will be looking for Draisaitl.

“He’s one of the best players in the world,” Podkolzin said.

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge

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