Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 31: Oilers stave off late rally to advance to West Final

Then four minutes later, the Oilers added to their lead. It was initially thought that Evan Bouchard had the goal with another shot from the point, but it turned out that Zach Hyman deflected the puck into the net, so he was credited with his league-leading 11th goal of the playoffs.

And as the cherry on top in the second, Bouchard’s one-time attempt on the power play missed the net, but the puck perfectly bounced out to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the other side of the net, and he fired it home into the wide open net to give the Oilers a resounding 3-0 lead going into the third period.

Of course, no three-goal lead is truly safe until the buzzer goes. So when Conor Garland scored with 8:33 left in the third period, Oilers fans probably felts a bit more nervous, especially after how Game 1 went for Edmonton.

And then when Filip Hronek scored with 4:36 left in the game, that nervousness turned to intense anxiety.

However, much to the benefits of the heart rates of the city of Edmonton, the Oilers hung on and did not allow the tying goal, and took the game by a score of 3-2 to win the game and the series. Nugent-Hopkins and Bouchard led the way in scoring for the Oilers with two points each.

The Oilers advance to the Conference Finals for the second time in three seasons, and will look to finally get their first win in the third round in the Connor McDavid era of the team against the Dallas Stars. The Canucks end their season in the second round for their second straight playoff appearance (doing so previously in the 2020 playoff bubble) and remain without a Conference Final appearance since their Cup Final run in 2011.