The Edmonton Oilers were on cruise control in Game 1 of their all-Canadian Western Conference second-round series against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night. Until they weren’t.
The Oilers blew a 4-1 second-period lead at Rogers Arena in British Columbia, allowing the Canucks to score four unanswered goals — three in the final 10 minutes of the third period — to squeak out a 5-4 victory.
And Stuart Skinner, who made just 19 saves on 24 shots in the defeat, knows Edmonton had no business losing Game 1.
“We definitely gave them this one,” the sophomore netminder admitted after the game, per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.
Despite trailing for most of the game, the Canucks didn’t look outmatched at all despite coming into the contest as underdogs. The Oilers directed just eight total shots on Arturs Silovs in the final two periods, while Vancouver managed 19 in the same span.
Connor McDavid was held without a shot for the first time in his postseason career in the loss, which is absolutely stunning considering his playoff track record. And Leon Draisaitl, who recorded two assists in the first period, battled cramps and was virtually a non-factor throughout the final 40 minutes.
“They’re a good team and they were doing everything they could to come back and we were doing everything we could to hold onto the lead,” said McDavid, who finished with an assist over 24:03 of time on ice, per NHL.com’s Kevin Woodley. “That happens in the playoffs, you try to hold onto a lead and sometimes you’re maybe a little too passive. We were doing a good job of holding onto the lead, but they find a way to get two and find a way to get a third to win.”
For the Canucks, it’s the second time this postseason the team has erased a late multi-goal lead to win, and it helped them hold onto home-ice advantage for at least 48 more hours.
Stuart Skinner, Oilers blew Game 1
Despite another impressive comeback from the Canucks, the Oilers should not have lost Game 1. They led for most of the contest, despite the low shot total, and probably could have used a key save from Skinner late in the third period.
But this Canucks team has learned to ride momentum well so far in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the Oilers will need to be much better in Game 2 if they hope to send the series East to Edmonton knotted at one.
“Up until 10 minutes left in the third, I thought we controlled the action,” said Oilers blue liner Mattias Ekholm, who scored on Wednesday. “Sometimes that happens, that’s the emotional ups and downs of the playoffs, they get three quick ones and that’s the game right there. We can be encouraged by the way we played for the first 50 minutes. A little bit of a disappointing ending, but at the end of the day, when we’re at our best and to a certain point, I didn’t think we maybe earned it in the third.”
With the last two Canadian teams left in the postseason now well-acclimated to each other, this series figures to get better and better as Vancouver and Edmonton battle for a spot in the Western Conference Final.
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