Now that’s how you start a playoff series.
The Edmonton Oilers opened their second-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights with a commanding 4-2 victory after falling behind in the first period. Let’s take a look at what happened in Game 1. For the sixth time in seven postseason contests this year, the Oilers allowed the first goal of the game. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins took a double-minor high-sticking penalty, and just over two minutes into the game, Shea Theodore’s shot was deflected by William Karlsson, which changed the course of the puck enough to deflect off of Mark Stone’s skate and into the back of the net.
Midway through the first, the Oilers turned the puck over just after getting the Golden Knights’ blue line, leading to a rush chance. As has been the problem throughout the season and postseason, the trailer on the rush (Mark Stone) was left all alone, made a move to get around Corey Perry, and put it five-hole on Calvin Pickard for the 2-0 lead.
Perry redeemed himself with just over three and a half minutes left in the first period. The Oilers had a partial three-on-two, and after Leon Draisaitl got the zone entry, he passed it to Connor McDavid with speed. Perry was left all alone on the backdoor, allowing him to make a move and beat Adin Hill to cut the Golden Knights’ lead in half.
The Oilers dominated the second period, but were unable to find the game-tying goal. That changed early in the third period. A shot from Evan Bouchard took a bounce and went high in the air, landing beside Hill. Leon Draisaitl batted it behind the net once it landed, hitting Hill’s pad and into the back of the net.
With three minutes left in a tied game, John Klingberg made an excellent breakout pass. After getting the zone entry, Evander Kane found Zach Hyman trailing late, with the forward ripping it past Hill to give the Oilers a late lead.
The Oilers didn’t even need an empty-netter for the insurance goal. With just under two minutes left in the game, Connor Brown blocked a shot, used his speed to make it a one-on-one, and deked out the defender for the breakaway. Of course, playoff Brown buried it to give the Oilers a 4-2 lead, one that they would hold onto for the win.
Takeaways…
It’s not very often the Oilers win a Game 1. Coming into this game, they had won just three Game 1s in 15 tries since Connor McDavid entered the league, once in 2017 against the Anaheim Ducks, and twice last season. They are 2-1 in a series when they win Game 1 in the McDavid era. The turning point in this game was the second period. In that period, the Oilers outshot the Knights 12-1, giving them a 22-11 shot lead heading into the third period. While they didn’t find the game-tying goal until early in the first, the Oilers’ second period gave them all the momentum.
This is Calvin Pickard’s crease from now on. He only faced 17 shots in this game, saving 15 of them for an .882 save percentage. That isn’t great on paper, but he didn’t have much of a chance on the first goal, and Mark Stone was given far too much time on the Knights’ second goal. He made a few big saves in this one as well. John Klingberg is good. I don’t think anyone expected him to be as good as he has been this postseason, but the right-shot defenceman can make a breakout pass with the best of them, including one that led to the Oilers’ game-winning goal. Insane vision, and he’s stepped up in Mattias Ekholm’s absence.
Evan Bouchard was solid in this game, logging 26:27 of ice time, the most for any skater in this one. To add to that, he had two assists and even played a bit on the penalty kill, where he didn’t look all that bad. With that much ice time, Ty Emberson only played 6:43 in this game.
Who had Connor Brown tied for the team lead in goals after seven games? He scored an absolute beauty in the third period to seal the game, moving into a tie for seventh in the league in goals. Brown continues to be a playoff performer for the Oilers.
The Oilers will look to put a stranglehold on this series on Thursday at 7:30 PM MT when the two teams meet for Game 2 in Vegas.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
