On Thursday, the Edmonton Oilers play the Vancouver Canucks for the final time during the regular season.
Unlike last year, when the Canucks finished first in the Pacific Division, their spot in the postseason is far more precarious, as they sit a point out of a playoff spot currently occupied by the Calgary Flames.
To say this game is a grudge match is an understatement. The two teams played this past Saturday, with two suspensions stemming from this game as Connor McDavid and Tyler Myers each received a three-game ban.
This added fuel to an already burning fire, as the Canucks and Oilers met in the postseason for the first time since 1992. In this Throwback Thursday, we’ll revisit the 2023 postseason matchup.
Game 1
Coming into the second round, the Oilers had their annual beatdown of the Los Angeles Kings, winning in five games this time. On the other hand, the Canucks lost their Vezina-calibre netminder in Game 1 of their series against the Nashville Predators, a series they’d win in six games.
Queue the matchup of the Pacific Division teams, starting on May 8, 2024. In the first period, Zach Hyman scored an early power play goal, his eighth of the postseason, to give the Oilers the lead. With about five minutes left in the opening frame, Mattias Ekholm scored his first of the postseason to put the Oilers up 2-0 heading into the first intermission.
The Canucks’ Dakota Joshua got them on board less than a minute into the first, but the Oilers scored two quickfire goals from Cody Ceci and Hyman in less than a minute midway through the period. To give the Canucks some hope, Elias Lindholm scored with about three minutes left in the period.
Everything came crashing down for the Oilers in the third period, though. J.T. Miller scored midway through the final frame to bring the Canucks to within one. Nikita Zadorov, who became a villain in this series, tied the game with just over six minutes left, followed by Conor Garland’s game-winning goal less than a minute later.
The Canucks took Game 1 with a score of 5-4, not great.
Game 2
Sticking to Vancouver for Game 2, Elias Pettersson opened the scoring for the Canucks, scoring his first of the postseason on the power play early in the period. However, the Oilers scored a power play of their own midway through the first period as Leon Draisaitl tucked his sixth of the postseason.
Less than a minute into the second period, Brock Boeser scored his sixth of the postseason, but the Oilers fired back as Ekholm scored his second of the series just 23 seconds later. With 1:43 left in the middle frame, Zadorov scored from a terrible angle to put the Canucks up one heading into the third period.
Just over five minutes into the final frame, Connor McDavid scored his second goal of the postseason on a breakaway, setting up overtime. Desperately needing to score to avoid falling 2-0 in the series, Evan Bouchard’s odd-angle shot bounced off Ian Cole and in to send the teams to Edmonton locked up at one game each.
Game 3
The series shifted to Edmonton for Game 3 and the Oilers had a great start as Mattias Ekholm scored his third of the series on the power play to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. However, Lindholm scored a power play while Brock Boeser scored twice before the end of the opening frame to give the Canucks a 3-1 lead heading into the first intermission.
Draisaitl scored a power play goal early in the first period, but Lindholm picked up his second power play goal late in the second to give the Canucks a 4-2 lead. Funnily enough, this was the last goal on the penalty kill the Oilers gave up for a while.
The Oilers scored a goal late in the third period via Evan Bouchard but were unable to score the game-tying goal with the minute and 16 seconds they had left in the game. This gave the Canucks a 4-3 win and a 2-1 series lead.
Game 4
Game 4 was a wild one. Draisaitl opened the scoring midway through the first period with a power play goal, his eighth of the postseason. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins got on the score sheet with 40 seconds left in the first period to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead.
For the first time in the series, there were no goals in a period, as no one scored in the second. However, Garland scored about seven minutes into the third period to cut the Oilers’ lead in half. With just under two minutes left, Joshua scored to tie the game up at two. I, along with many other Oiler fans, thought “here we go again”.
However, Bouchard had something to say about it, as he scored just over a minute later with 39 seconds left in the game to give the Oilers a 3-2 lead. They were able to hold on, noting the series up at two and making it a best of three.
Game 5
The series shifted to Vancouver for Game 5, and to say that the Oilers needed a win would be an understatement.
It started off well, as Evander Kane scored his third goal of the postseason just under five minutes into the period. When the Canucks’ Carson Soucy scored with two minutes and 33 seconds left in the first period, the Oilers fired right back as Mattias Janmark scored just 23 seconds later with his first of the postseason.
Just over five minutes into the second period, Phillip Di Giuseppe scored to tie the game, with the score holding all the way to the third period. With just 33 seconds left, J.T. Miller scored to give the Canucks a 3-2 lead, both in the game and in the series.
Heading to Edmonton for Game 6, the Oilers were in must-win territory over the next two games.
Game 6
Game 6 saw Dylan Holloway open the scoring with his third of the postseason midway through the period. However, Nils Höglander tied the game up at one heading into the first intermission.
It was all the Oilers from there though, as Hyman scored his 10th of the postseason midway through the second period. That was followed up by Bouchard’s fifth of the postseason just over four minutes later to give the Oilers a 3-1 lead.
Nugent-Hopkins gave the Oilers a 4-1 lead early in the third period, capped off by Kane’s fourth of the postseason with just under seven minutes left in the game, as the Oilers took Game 6 comfortably with a score of 5-1.
This set up a winner-take-all Game 7 in Vancouver.
Game 7
Mr. Game 7 himself, Cody Ceci, became the first Oiler defenceman to score in more than one Game 7, as his slap from the point early in the second period opened the scoring.
The Oilers added two more in the second, with Hyman scoring his 11th of the season with a deflection while Nugent-Hopkins scored the key goal after a wild bounce off the boards.
Ryan McLeod made a blunder with less than 10 minutes left in the game to get the Canucks back in it. It was enemy #1 who scored the goal, as Garland scored his third of the series.
With 4:36 left in the game, Filip Hronek’s point shot beat Stuart Skinner, bringing the Canucks within one. However, the Oilers were able to weather the storm, winning the game 3-2 and the series 4-3.
The rest of the postseason
It’s always nice to send your opponents golfing, especially if they’re your division rivals. Since then, the Canucks have suffered locker room turmoil and it looks as if it’s a matter of time before a key member of their team is traded.
The Oilers, on the other hand, defeated the Dallas Stars in six games to head to their first Stanley Cup Finals since 2006. After falling 3-0 in the series, they became one of just three teams able to force a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals. However, their momentum ran out as the Florida Panthers were able to hold on to a 2-1 lead to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
As it stands, the Oilers are second in the Pacific Division with a chance to finish first as they sit just one point out of the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights. The Canucks sit outside the final Wild Card spot as the Calgary Flames currently hold on to the spot.
Hopefully, the Oilers can win on Thursday.
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