McDavid scores as Oilers advance to 3rd round

*Photo from Oilers Nation*

Edmonton wins series 4-1

   We have another series that has reached it's end, albeit a little early. Zach Hyman scored a goal, Connor McDavid scored the winning goal, and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Calgary Flames with a 5-4 overtime victory on Thursday night in Calgary.

   With the victory, the Oilers officially won their 4th straight game since losing in game one. They punched their ticket to the Western Conference finals with the win, prevailing in the battle of Alberta and knocking out the rival Flames to advance. One might say, they doused the Flames(pun intended).

   Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said that "We're only halfway, but it feels good to take that next step for now. It feels good to see we grow as a team, we grow as an organization. I'm really proud of the guys. This was a hard series. That's a really good team over there and they made it hard on us and they pushed back, and we had to push back twice as hard. Great job by everyone."

   The only goal of the first period came from Andrew Mangiapane, who gave the Flames a 1-0 lead after the opening 20 minutes. There were then 7 goals in the second period, started by Mikael Backlund's 5th goal of the playoffs. Darnell Nurse then scored 7:40 into the second, getting the Oilers on the board to make it a 2-1 game.

   Later in the second, Jesse Puljujarvi tied it for the Oilers, making it 2-2 on his second goal this postseason. Hyman then put the Oilers ahead 3-2 on a power play goal 14:57 into the period. Johnny Gaudreau and Calle Jarnkrok then scored for the Flames, putting them ahead 4-3, before Evan Bouchard tied it 4-4. After a scoreless 3rd period, McDavid won the game 5:03 into overtime to advance the Oilers.

   McDavid said of advancing in the playoffs that "We all want to win. Everybody wants to win. I think our group has been through a lot this year and in years past. I think it's just made us hungrier and hungrier to be successful. We've had to learn a lot of lessons along the way, and it's got us up to this point, and obviously we want to keep going here."

   Getting the start for the Oilers was Mike Smith, who continued his hot streak to win his 4th straight game. Smith saved 32 of the 36 shots that the Flames tested him with, which was good for a .889 save percentage in the victory.

   In net for the Flames was Jacob Markstrom, who was unable to turn their season around and keep them in it. Markstrom stopped 30 out of the 35 shots on goal the Oilers sent at him, recording a sub optimal .857 save percentage.

   Backlund said of being eliminated that "Right now, it's just all disappointment, frustration, upset. We had a great team. A great group of guys. Proud of all the guys and would go to war with all the guys again. It just didn't finish the way we wanted."

   Up next, the Oilers advance in the postseason, where they await the winner of the series between the Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues. The Flames head home for the summer and await for the start of next season.