Carson Anderson
The Edmonton Oilers survived a late push from the Vancouver Canucks to win Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals 3-2. The Oilers will now advance to the Western Conference finals for the second time in four years.
When the puck dropped in Game 7, Rogers Arena was a hornet’s nest, but that atmosphere didn’t last long. Edmonton controlled the game in the first 20 minutes, even if they were unable to score.
In the second period, the dam called Arturs Silovs finally broke. Just 1:16 into the middle frame, Cody Ceci fired a missile through traffic that beat Silovs over his shoulder to open the scoring.
This was just Ceci’s fourth career playoff goal and it sparked a surge for the Oilers.
Just 4:34 after that, Zach Hyman scored his 11th goal of the postseason by knocking in a shot from Evan Bouchard. Later in the second period, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins cashed in on the power play, grabbing a rebound off the end boards and flinging it past a diving Silovs.
The Oilers appeared to have a comfortable victory in Game 7, but a couple of mistakes in the third period gave the Canucks life. Vancouver scored two late goals but ran out of magic and couldn’t find an equalizer before the final buzzer.
Frankly, the Canucks should be grateful to be anywhere near attacking when the third period began. Silovs tried to steal the win from Edmonton and he did everything but leave the bench with a bag full of money.
The 23-year-old Latvian goalkeeper simply did not receive enough support from the team in front of him. The Canucks didn’t really put much pressure on Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner until it was too late. They had 12 shots on goal in the first two periods, and that won’t be enough against an offensive juggernaut like Edmonton.
The Oilers will open the Western Conference Finals on the road Thursday against the Dallas Stars.
Win without McDavid
If you told me Connor McDavid would have one shot on goal and zero points in Game 7, I would have assumed the Canucks would face the Stars in the conference finals. Instead, other players stepped up and manufactured the offense in the biggest game of the season, and that’s what’s different about this Oilers team.
In recent years, Edmonton has probably lost this game because they were overly reliant on McDavid to get the job done. The Canucks did an excellent job of neutralizing the best player on the planet, but it simply didn’t matter.
Ceci had a goal. Evan Bouchard scored two points. Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist. Hyman and Evander Kane combined for eight shots on goal.
Defensively, everything was on the line for the Oilers. Three of their most skilled offensive players – McDavid, Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins – combined for nine blocks. Darnell Nurse, sometimes ridiculed for his defensive play, led the team with four blocks.
The Oilers are a complete team and are capable of winning games even when McDavid isn’t playing like the second coming of Wayne Gretzky. In fact, McDavid went pointless in three games of this series, and Edmonton still found a way to advance.
The Oilers are deep and their defense is good enough to win the Stanley Cup. Now imagine what they’ll look like if McDavid starts running again.
Not-so-special teams sink Canucks
In a seven-game series, the small margins are what make the difference. This matchup between the Oilers and Canucks couldn’t have been much closer, which is why Vancouver has to be kicking itself for a putrid special teams performance.
The Canucks’ power play suffered throughout the postseason, and that deficiency was their fatal flaw in the second round. Vancouver converted on just three of its 23 power play opportunities against Edmonton, which is a miniscule 13.0% conversion rate. That includes a four-minute power play in Game 7 that generated next to nothing in terms of shots and scoring chances.
That’s not good against any opponent, but it’s downright disastrous against an Oilers team with the deadliest power play unit to ever step on the ice. While the Canucks struggled to get anything done with the man advantage, the Oilers were, indeed, a well-oiled machine, converting on six of their 19 power plays.
It was only fitting that the series-deciding goal was a power play result for Edmonton.
The Canucks’ penalty kill probably shouldn’t be discouraged for not solving the Oilers’ power play, which has profited from 36.8% of its postseason chances. What was disappointing was the lack of production of highly skilled players on the team’s power play.
Most notably, Elias Pettersson had a rough run in the playoffs. Pettersson scored one goal in 13 games and recorded just two points on the power play. His struggles had a lot to do with Vancouver’s anemic upside, and that’s not what you want to say about a player making $11.6 million a year.
Goaltending conundrum remains in Edmonton
Stuart Skinner started Game 7 and played well enough to secure the Oilers’ victory, but I don’t think the goaltending discussion is over in Edmonton. If the team wants to overtake the Stars and compete for the Stanley Cup, it will need more reliable play between the pipes.
Skinner was fairly pedestrian in the first three games, allowing 11 goals on just 64 shots against. In Games 5 and 6, Skinner was replaced by Calvin Pickard, who was useful but allowed three goals in the Game 5 loss.
The two combined for a team save percentage of 88.8% and allowed 4.49 goals above expected, by natural statistics trick. If there’s an Achilles heel in this Edmonton lineup, it’s at the crease.
I have to imagine Skinner will get the nod for Game 1 against the Stars, but how long is his leash? Just one bad game could be enough to send Edmonton home.
The Oilers also won’t have the luxury of playing a starting goaltender against the Stars. Jake Oettinger is a true No. 1 and has been spectacular in these playoffs. Oettinger gives Dallas a clear advantage in goal, and if Edmonton doesn’t improve the play of its own goaltenders, he will head home before the Stanley Cup Final.
