*Photo from Sportsnet*
Series tied 2-2
How's this for some late game magic? Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist, Evan Bouchard scored the game winning goal, and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Vancouver Canucks with a 3-2 victory Tuesday night in Edmonton.
Having lost the first game at home to fall behind 2-1, the Oilers didn't let that happen again as they won game 4 to even the series at two games apiece, forcing a game 6 back in Edmonton. Draisaitl and Bouchard each had a goal and an assist.
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said of the win that "There’s not much more adversity than giving up a two-goal lead late in the game the way we did, and coming up big and scoring late in the third period. So, it just makes the win even sweeter."
Draisaitl got the scoring started, giving the Oilers a 1-0 lead on the only goal of the first period, assisted by Bouchard and Connor McDavid. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the only goal of the second period, making it a 2-0 Oilers lead. Conor Garland scored 6:54 into the 3rd period to get the Canucks on the board and making it 2-1.
The end of the 3rd period was where things really got interesting. With 1:41 left in regulation, Dakota Joshua scored his 4th goal of the playoffs, tying the game 2-2 with Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes assisting. Exactly 1:02 later, Draisaitl and Evander Kane got assists on Bouchard's game winning goal that made it 3-2 Oilers.
Bouchard said of his goal that "It definitely wasn’t ideal giving up that second one in the third, but there wasn’t much time to sulk and think about it. We had to go out and still finish the period. Kudos to our forwards for battling in front. It’s a tough job getting to the goalie. I saw a lane and I took it."
After entering game 3 in relief of Stuart Skinner, Calvin Pickard was the man between the pipes for the Oilers in game 4. Making his first career playoff start, Pickard made 19 saves on the 21 shots he faced, posting a .905 save percentage.
Getting the start in goal for the Canucks was once again Arturs Silovs, who was handed his second loss of the series. Silovs stopped 27 of the 30 shots that the Oilers offense sent his way, good for an even .900 save percentage.
Vancouver captain Quinn Hughes said of the loss that "To tie it up like that and have a great push and then to lose like that, it’s disappointing. But these things happen and we have to move along. There is a lot of belief in this room, there is no quit and obviously going into the next game, we don’t want to find ourselves in a hole. But like I said after Game 1, if it’s 4-1 or 2-1 or 2-0, whatever it is, we’re going to go to the final buzzer."
The series heads back to Vancouver for game 5, set for Thursday night. With the series tied, both teams will go for the 3-2 series lead, with the big question being whether it's Skinner or Pickard in goal for the Oilers.
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