*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
Vegas leads series 3-2
This series has been a lot of fun, and it still is. Jonathan Marchessault had 3 assists, Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists, and the Vegas Golden Knights rallied past the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Friday in Vegas.
Vegas won the game on the strength of a 3 goal second period after trailing following the first period. They now have the 3-2 series lead and are on the brink of closing the series out. Marchessault and Eichel led Vegas on the scoresheet.
Eichel said that "Adin obviously made some big saves. Our D played great. You start off by killing a penalty against a good power play, I know we gave one up, but it was good that we got out of that while still having a lead. We still pushed forward. We had some shifts in their end where we were able to possess the puck. Things like that add up."
Connor McDavid started the scoring, giving the Oilers a 1-0 lead with his 6th goal of the playoffs, coming 3:02 into the game. Just 50 seconds later, Eichel found the tying goal for Vegas, assisted by Marchessault and Alec Martinez. Zach Hyman then scored to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead after one period, assisted by Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Mark Stone scored 14:05 into the second period, tying the game 2-2. Reilly Smith scored 29 seconds later to put Vegas ahead 3-2 on his first goal of the playoffs. Nicolas Hague then made it 4-2 on the eventual game winning goal. McDavid scored in the 3rd period to cut the deficit to 4-3, but Vegas held on from there.
Getting the start for the Golden Knights was Adin Hill, who picked up his second win of the series with a solid performance. Hill stopped 32 of the 35 shots the Oilers sent at him, which was good for a .914 save percentage.
Hill said of the win that "We did a great job. We beared down and limited their chances. We had a great game for 60 minutes tonight. It just shows how good we are. We're a strong group. It doesn't matter who's on the ice. We can roll four lines with anyone."
It was Stuart Skinner who started for the Oilers, getting the loss to drop to 5-5 in the playoffs. Skinner turned aside 18 out of the 22 shots he saw from the Golden Knights, recording a .818 save percentage in the setback.
Edmonton head coach Jay Woodcroft said that "We gave up two 5-on-5 goals in a similar manner. We had numerous chances 5-on-5 to convert. In those games where we won in this series, we didn't give up four or more goals. We did some good things tonight. In the end, that segment in the second period hobbled us and we weren't able to get it done."
Up next, game 6 of the series is back in Edmonton on Sunday. The Golden Knights look to win and secure their spot in the next round, while the Oilers need to win to keep their season alive.
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