5 Takeaways From Oilers’ 4-3 Loss in Game 5 to Canucks

Beyond the top of their lineup, the Oilers are not getting scoring contributions, which has led Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch to take desperate measures. Knoblauch stacked his No. 1 line for the last two games with Draisaitl, Hyman, and captain Connor McDavid while also double-shifting his best players.

Since the NHL started tracking time on ice in 1997-98, no Oilers forward had ever played more than 27:43 in a non-overtime postseason game until Sunday, when McDavid played 29:42, with Draisaitl on the ice for 29:04. Meanwhile on the backend, Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard logged 31:24, the second most minutes for an Oilers skater in a non-overtime postseason game.

There is a reason these kinds of minute totals have not been seen before: they are not sustainable or conducive to a deep playoff run. Edmonton needs to get the rest of its lines going, but with Knoblauch leaning so heavily on the top unit, the situation has almost become a self-fulfilling prophecy.  

Edmonton’s Power-Play Continues to Surge

Speaking of being heavily reliant on someone or something, Edmonton went 2-for-4 on the power-play on Sunday, with Draisaitl and Ekholm scoring. The Oilers are now 13/28 (46.4%) with the man advantage during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, leading the NHL in both power-play goals and percentage. Over half of Edmonton’s total goals this postseason has come with the man advantage, which also does not necessarily portend to sustained success.

That said, Edmonton’s juggernaut power-play is a sight to behold. The Oilers have scored at least one power-play in their first eight games of this postseason, equalling the franchise record they set last year.

Canucks Taking Physical Toll on Oilers

Vancouver set the tone for the game on the opening shift, as Ekholm was absolutely belted by Lindholm and, as soon as he got up, absorbed another huge bodycheck from Canucks forward Dakota Joshua.

This continued all game long, and even after the final horn, when McDavid was crosschecked in the back by Vancouver’s Nikita Zadorov at the same as being crosschecked in the face by Canucks defenceman Carson Soucy.

It was cheap but indicative of Vancouver’s ability to take the physical edge in this series. While Edmonton has outshot Vancouver 76-37 in the last two games, the Canucks have outhit the Oilers 91-54 in the same two contests.

Right or wrong, officials put their whistles away at this time of spring, and it’s up to the Oilers to figure out how to succeed in the Wild West, which is the NHL Playoffs.

Stats Don’t Always Add Up With Canucks

The team that scores first has now lost all three games in this series, which is just one of many stats that don’t always have to make sense when the Canucks are involved.

Vancouver is now 4-2 when being outshot in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and Sunday’s win was its second this postseason when the opposition has 2.5 times the number of shots as do the Canucks. In four of their six wins, the Canucks have registered 21 or fewer shots on goal.

Clearly, the Canucks are a team that’s comfortable playing in lower-event games, which is often the recipe for success in hostile territory at this time of year. That helps explain another one of Vancouver’s outlier stats: a 4-0 road record so far in the 2024 NHL postseason.

Skinner Needs to be Better

None of the four goals that Skinner conceded on Sunday can be considered terrible, but at the same time, the Oilers netminder is not coming up with big or timely saves, which is exactly what Silovs did at the other end of the rink.

“We need more saves,” Knoblauch said bluntly when he met with media after the game. “Tonight, I obviously felt like that with (Pickard) going in the third period. Defence along with goaltending is very important to winning hockey games, especially in the long-term, and it has to be better.”

This is a troubling trend for Skinner, who now has appeared in 20 Stanley Cup Playoff games over the past two springs and has been pulled from five starts. His career NHL postseason goals-against average (3.49) and save percentage (.881) rank among the worst in Stanley Cup Playoffs for goalies who have made at least 20 starts.

In his first career NHL Playoff appearance, Pickard stopped all three shots he faced on Sunday. Tellingly, Knoblauch would not say that Skinner—who has started every Oilers postseason game in the last two years—is getting the nod in Game 4.

“I’m not committing to that or making a decision right now,” Knoblauch said. “Obviously, it’s very emotional after a loss. We’ll get together tomorrow as a staff, and we’ll make that decision.”

Whoever starts between the pipes for the Oilers on Tuesday (May 14) will have to be razor sharp: Trailing 2-1 in the series, the Oilers are walking on a razor’s edge, desperately needing a win to avoid going back to Vancouver facing elimination in Game 5 on Thursday (May 16).