GAME RECAP: Oilers 3, Canucks 2 (Game 7)
The Oilers are able to fend off a late third-period attack by the Canucks to take Game 7, scoring 3 goals in the second half in a spirited 3-2 victory which takes their Blue & Orange to the Conference Final
By Jamie Umbach
May 21, 2024 06:29 AM
The Oilers hold off a late third-period push from the Canucks to win Game 7 after scoring three second-period goals in a resilient 3-2 win that sends the Blue & Orange to the Conference Final
VANCOUVER, BC – Round 3 bound.
The Oilers secured their spot to finals in Western Conference Final on Monday night, winning 3-2 against the Canucks during Game 7, played in Rogers Arena, scoring three times in the second half to create a three-goal cushion, which was tested in the final frame when the hosts made a late charge during the last 9 minutes in regulation.
“First first, and most importantly, they’re a fantastic team. They clearly have our number all season all through,” Connor McDavid said. “It was not too long that we were here in a chat room, discussing losing 8-1. They’ve been in touch with us and it’s great to be able to win in this match.
“It was a tightly knit series. A passionate series. The fan base was in full swing. It’s exciting to get to the top of the pile.”
Cody Ceci opened the scoring by slapping a shot less then two minutes in the second period scoring his first Game 7 goal in his career. Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored goals prior to the second intermission, giving Edmonton an 3-0 advantage heading into the final frame.
The Canucks didn’t want to be defeated without a fight, as the hosts scoring two goals by Conor Garland and Filip Hronek in a span of 3:57 of the second period, resulting in an exciting conclusion to the Monday night’s winner take all match between two Canadian adversaries. However, the Oilers took a step back after an intermission to prevent their tough opponents from scoring any shots during the game’s final 2 minutes without a net.
“A lot of credit to the Vancouver,” the Head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “They obviously have a lot of really good hockey players, and any deficiencies they had I think the coaching staff did a really good job covering those up and getting the most out of their guys. Their work ethic and their compete would be some of their strongest attributes, but they’re a well-coached, well-rounded hockey team and there were a lot of close games. Only one game wasn’t close, that’s it.”
The Oilers win Game 7 an 3-2 win against the Canucks
Nugent-Hopkins scored the game-winning goal during a power play in the second period. concluding the game with an assist and a goal and Evan Bouchard was masterful after scoring two assists to establish the new NHL record for the highest number of points scored by a defenseman in the initial two playoff rounds.
Stuart Skinner finished the night with 14 saves in between the pipes to help backstop the Oilers to win, and bounced back in the closing 2 games recording 29 stops on 32 shots. He helped get his team to Round 3. He did it with an unwavering effort.
“I believe we got out there and were very active. I believe we kept the game easy,” he said. “There was nothing specific about what we did. It’s more about the way that players played. I believe that all of the players simply showed up. There was a lot of hands on the wheel tonight.”
The Oilers advance to Round 3 for the third time in the last three seasons. They will take on against the Dallas Stars for the right to represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup Final. Game 1 is scheduled for starting at 5:30 p.m. MT at the American Airlines Center.
“It’s going be a game for men. It’s a very good squad,” Leon Draisaitl said. “They’ll be prepared for us and so will we.”
Tony & Jack discuss Edmonton’s victory of 3-2 against Vancouver at 7 in the seventh game of Game 7.
FIRST PERIOD
The Oilers were able to promote a successful start to Monday’s crucial Game 7 during their media appearances, stressing that they’d have to be ready within the first 10 minutes and establish the mood in a tough arena which has been rocking every playoff.
The Blue & Orange built themselves the starting point they desired by using a hefty forecheck as well as plenty of speed in their efforts to exert an attack on the Canucks and their work in the early stages was rewarded after Brett Kulak’s goal from left-hand side of the circle following the rebound of Dylan Holloway’s attempt produced an incredible blocker save from Arturs Silovs less than a minute into the opening period.
The Canucks could only manage two shots in the first period and their best chance was not even recognized as a shot until Ilya Mikheyev got fed an open goal by J.T. Miller after an unintentional passing from Vincent Desharnais, but the Russian was unable to get the ball inside the post after he smashed by slide of Stuart Skinner.
Mikheyev’s mistake was a big disappointment for the Oilers but they carried on their dominance, outshooting the Canucks 10-1 within the first 10 minutes. They also dominated play in Game 7 until a disastrous double minor for high-sticking Ryan McLeod put his team on the penalty kill for the last 3:44 in the first frame.
Connor talks to the media following his win in the Game 7 on Monday.
“That could’ve made it a different game,” Knoblauch declared. “I thought we played really well, and that could’ve been a turning point in the game. But our penalty kill, like it has been for almost all the playoffs, has been really solid.”
The Canucks did not take any chances on their advantage as a team, with the most favorable chance to take advantage of the advantage of the man being the opposite in the favor of players from the Oilers as Connor Brown found himself free to breakaway, which attempted to put in a the ball in the five-hole hole, but Silovs kept his cool to block the ball from Brown’s one-on-one chance.
“It’s something we are proud of throughout the season. This is the reason,” Nugent-Hopkins said of the penalty kill. “Because we’re aware that it could change the outcome of situations like this, so the power play must be there and score some goals on time and the PK must block the power play. Like I said that we take a lot of satisfaction in the penalty kill. We have a lot of great players and killers who can perform on the power play and it’s the key to success and we’re grateful that it happened today.”
The Oilers beat the Canucks 13-2 within the first 20 minutes. They also had momentum going into the middle period But their players were aware they wouldn’t have enough to move forward. They needed a huge period at the end of intermission in order to stop the Canucks from getting too confident after playing without scoring in the first half.
“You require contributions from everyonein order to make it to the finals. Most of the time it’s not all in the scoreboard. There are a lot of small actions that players are taking that aren’t being recognized It’s faces-offs, playing a game in their zone, and gaining momentum for the team. There are many tiny things that lots of people may not notice during a sport, yet we know about it and we are grateful for it.”
The Oilers defeat the Canucks with a 3-2 win in Game 7
The Oilers eliminate the Canucks with a 3-2 victory in Game 7
SECOND PERIOD
It’s clear it’s quite clear that Cody Ceci thrives when his team is facing the wall.
The defenceman of 30 years scored the crucial goal that won the game during Game 7, against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 7 to secure his team’s spot in the second round, and there was a chance to allow this Ottawa, ON product to score Edmonton’s ticket to the third round when the player ripped off a slap shot to score the first goal in the middle of the frame.
The Oilers destroyed the rest of McLeod’s penalty. They went back to their offensive to allow Ceci to catch an off-the-line pass by Brett Kulak above the right circle, before it was pushed across the shoulder to left of Silovs to break the deadlock in this vital Game 7, which is on the West Coast.
“Obviously, that kill in the first was really big,” Draisaitl stated. “It gave us a lot of momentum going into the second, and then we just kind of picked it up where we left it off in the first.”
It’s the second consecutive Game 7 of the Oilers where Ceci scored the first goal of the series and his first goal in the game on Tuesday night marked his second goal of the postseason with both goals coming in the series played on Rogers Arena. Ceci has scored four postseason goals. He became the only Oilers defenceman from the history of franchise to score several Game 7 tallies.
Evan & Leon speak after getting to the third stage on Monday
Just five minutes later defenseman Evan Bouchard showed his patience by launching a point shot which resulted in Edmonton doubling their lead in just 4:36, after Edmonton scored the first goal.
Bouchard was waiting for Hyman to finish the net’s front area, but the ball was tipped into the target by blueliner who saw his shot catch an winger’s piece before it snagged an area off the other post and crossed over the goal line to give the Oilers lead at 14:10 left in the second period. giving Edmonton with a small amount of breathing space however not enough to feel comfortable in an elimination game in which anything could happen.
Bouchard scored a pair of assists in the second quarter for 20 points (5G 15A, 5G) during the playoffs. This makes him only the third Oilers player to hit this mark in the playoffs following Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Stuart talks to the media after the game on Monday. 7 victory.
Skinner didn’t go without crucial saves despite only having to face 12 shots over both periods. The Oilers netminder was able to stand on Sam Laffery for his eighth save just beyond the halfway point, after a dangerous attack by the Canucks after which they returned in the following sequence and forced him to make an impressive glove save on J.T. Miller and preserving the lead to two goals.
This was until Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu the Edmonton’s unusually silent power game during this season finally swung into action in the final moments.
The Oilers got their second power play after Kulak was slashed by Laffery inside Edmonton’s zone after just five and a half minutes remaining in the middle frame. Bouchard had his second assist as his shot was blocked, but it flew out to the opposite end of backboards to Nugent-Hopkins who fired close to the post and pushed it past Silovs before it landed in the top corner one minute after the advantage was awarded to the player.
Nugent-Hopkins recorded a new record for his career in the playoffs thanks to an assist and goal during the second quarter and scored 16 points on four goals in the postseason.
The Oilers were leading by three goals for the duration of 40 minutes, but you’re aware that there was a big gap between the Canucks having to overcome a massive loss at home it was a huge pressure that came from the home team.
Nugent-Hopkins snares the puck away from the boards to create an PPG
THIRD PERIOD
Given how tightly the series was to the very end it only seemed fitting that we’d get an exciting conclusion for Game 7.
“It got a little stressful, and I think Leo said it perfectly,” Knoblauch declared. “We would have preferred it to be less stressful and kind of cruise to the end of the game, and for the most part, I think for 60 minutes in Edmonton and about 50 minutes here, we played a pretty good game and were solid offensively and defensively, I liked a lot of things that we did.”
The Canucks took the lead in just under an hour remaining in the regulation period when Conor Garland capitalized on a bobbled puck for an opportunity in the slot which the centre put on the right side of Skinner to cause the Oilers in the defensive position, trying to defend their advantage.
The situation got more intense and tense for Blue & Orange after Filip Hronek’s point shot made its way into the goal just four minutes later to score his second goal in the postseason at a crucial point. It was three-to-three with only the remaining minutes in the game for Canucks to attempt to complete their comeback.
The Oilers had their timeout after Darnell Nurse took on the role of a motivator during the previous timeout on television to unite the team in an effort to get back to the same level of successful in the opening two games.
The motivation of the defenceman was huge in the manner the last couple of minutes unfolded.
Ryan speaks with the media following Monday’s Game 7 victory
“Darnell is certainly one of the longest players of this team and has proven to be an inspiration. His character and actions speak volumes and they say more when you’re doing good,” Knoblauch said. “And I believe that in the two games that he played in, Darnell really stood out and stepped up his game. He had confidence in rallying the players, they clearly appreciate it and I believe it was a smart move as the leader.”
“Nursey is just a great leader for us, and he stepped up at a big moment and felt the need to calm us down a little bit,” Draisaitl said. “I thought it was the right call. After that, I don’t know if they scored the second one after that or before that, I’m not sure, but I thought we did a good job in the last three minutes.”
With the Canucks defense empty Edmonton went on sale to make sure their bodies were ahead of pucks. They eventually got the big block that pushed it into neutral territory for the Oilers to secure their Game 7 win and move into finals in the Western Conference Final.
“Guys consumed pucks. Guys did everything we could have done to win the game,” Skinner said. “I think it shows the level of effort a team Vancouver was. I think it also is a good indicator of how hard it is to even get to the third Round and how it will only get more difficult from there We’ve gained amazing experience in being able to beat them during Game 7 and the manner in which we achieved it.
“So being able to learn from those mistakes that we made and really carry on the things that we did well into Round 3 is going to be really big for us.”
