Oilers Take Game 2 in Overtime 4-3 vs. Canucks – Hockey Writers – Edmonton Oilers
With two games, the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks bring the promised fireworks to Canada’s biggest rivalry in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After the Canucks’ dramatic 5-4 victory in Game 1, the second tilt required overtime to decide the outcome. This time it was the Oilers who won 4-3, evening the series at 1-1 as the game heads to Edmonton on Sunday.
Vancouver and Edmonton Exchange Blows
The second game was much closer than the first but unfolded differently. While Vancouver was forced to climb to a 4-1 deficit in the first game, Friday night’s contest found both sides battered in more ways than one. The hosts opened the scoring with Elias Pettersson finally getting his first postseason tally on the power play, only for Edmonton to answer with Leon Draisaitl, also in the man’s womb.
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At the start of the second half, the Canucks took advantage of 4-on-4 hockey in the Oilers zone, and Brock Boeser scored on a good point to make it 2-1. Lo and behold, Mattias Ekholm equalized the goals after 23 seconds. Just before the teams returned to halftime, Nikita Zadorov hit another version of his Round 1 Game 5 marker, sending a thrilling wrist shot from a difficult angle above Stuart Skinner’s shoulders. The lone goal in the third period belonged to Edmonton’s talisman, Connor McDavid, who came out on top and did his best against the goalie.
Overtime was settled when the Oilers pressed and Evan Bouchard sent the puck to the crease and deflected off Ian Cole’s stick and into the net. Make the finals, 4-3 for Edmonton.
Despite the back-and-forth scoring, the tension in the series has risen dramatically. Body blows were thrown around a lot in Game 2 and there were a few suspicious shots to players’ faces and backs. Whether he made a mistake or not, McDavid even stuck to the cheek of Quinn Hughes in the second half, which led to the captain’s intense crime.
Game 3 sees the action head to Edmonton on Sunday evening.
