Zach Hyman scored his 11th goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, helping Leon Draisaitl extend his opening postseason point streak to 12 games for Edmonton, the No. 2 seed of the Pacific Division. Stuart Skinner made 15 saves, while Yvan Bouchard made two assists.
“It’s exciting to beat a great Vancouver team,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. “It’s a really great team. It wasn’t that long ago, two months ago, we were sitting here doing an interview talking about the 8-1 loss (in the opening game of the season). They had our number and that’s how I feel.” It’s good to get to the top, it’s been a solid series, an emotional series, the two fan bases are crazy, and it’s fun to get to the top.
The Oilers will play the Dallas Stars, who eliminated the Colorado Avalanche in six games, in the Western Conference Final. Game 1 of that best-of-7 series will be in Dallas on Thursday.
“They’re a great team, too,” McDavid said. “It’s the conference finals, you’re going to have to play a great team, and they certainly are. They’re a deep team, they’re as deep a team as you’ll find in the NHL. Four lines and six [defensemen]They got a great goalkeeper. “It will be a great test, but we are looking forward to it.”
Connor Garland and Filip Hronek scored in the third period, and Arturs Silovs made 26 saves for Vancouver, which was the No. 1 seed from the Pacific Rim. Forward Brock Boeser, who led the Canucks with seven goals in the postseason, did not play due to an undisclosed injury.
“This team has brought back respect for this city and this jersey, let’s face it,” Canucks coach Rick Touchette said. “There’s no quitting on this team. I’m really proud of the guys.”
Edmonton outscored Vancouver 13-2 in the first period but couldn’t solve the Celloff problem. He made a full breakaway to block Brett Kulak’s rebound attempt at 1:26, stopped Hyman on a partial breakaway at 4:54, and denied Connor Brown on a short breakaway with 41 seconds left in the period.
“‘Artie’ played his part [butt] “What a playoff for this kid and his development, so there are a lot of positives in that,” Touchette said.
The Canucks failed to put a shot on goal during a four-minute power play late in the first period that extended into the second period for a 14-second stretch. The Oilers then broke the ice just over a minute later.
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