Oilers Defeat Canucks in Game Seven to Advance to the Western Conference Finals
The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks concluded their Western Conference Semifinals series with a winner-take-all Game Seven to determine who would advance to play the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Finals. The Oilers were hoping to break a pattern in the series—neither team had been able to win back-to-back games—after forcing a deciding game with their victory in Game Six. With an undisclosed injury and no estimated time of return, Canucks' head coach Rick Tocchet ruled out Brock Boeser on Monday morning, leaving the Canucks without their top goal scorer of the postseason. Boeser had scored 40 goals in the regular season and seven goals in the postseason. There had been plenty of scoring in this series between these two explosive sides; through the first six games of the series, 39 goals were scored in total. In Game Seven, the Oilers defeated the Canucks 3-2, outshooting them 29-17 and scoring three goals in a row in the second period to move on to the Western Conference Finals.
The Oilers would start the pivotal Game Seven with a strong momentum from their triumph in Game Six, outshooting the Canucks 9-1 in the first ten minutes of the opening period. The Canucks would get their first power play of the game when Oilers’ Ryan McLeod was given a four-minute high-sticking penalty with 3:46 remaining in the first period. As the game went into the second period with no goals scored, the Oilers’ penalty kill managed to stave off the double minor with 14 seconds remaining on the Canucks power play. In the opening 20 minutes, 12 different players for Edmonton would generate at least one shot on goal as the Oilers outshot the Canucks 13-2.
To begin the second period, only 1:16 into the frame, the Oilers would strike first to take a 1-0 lead after Cody Ceci would receive a feed from Brett Kulak near the top-of-the-zone and would one-time the puck over Canucks’ goalie Arturs Silovs’ shoulder and into the back of the net. At 5:50, Evan Bouchard's wrist shot from the middle of the Canucks' zone ricocheted off the top of the crossbar and into the net, increasing the Oilers' lead to 2-0. It would be the 12th goal scored by a defenseman for the Oilers this postseason, leading the whole league. With six minutes remaining in the middle period, the Oilers would go on their second power play when Canucks' Sam Lafferty was called for a tripping penalty. The Oilers would increase their lead to 3-0 just one minute into the power play when Bouchard's shot went wide right of the net, bounced off the boards, and came back out in front of the net. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was there to bury the puck into the wide-open net after Silovs was out of position in the crease. The Oilers outshot Vancouver 27–12 in the first 40 minutes as their defense kept stifling the Canucks’ attack.
In the third period, midway through the frame, at 11:27, the Canucks would trim their deficit to 3-1 after McLeod whiffed on an attempted pass out of the Oilers’ zone, which resulted in a giveaway and Canucks’ Conor Garland would gather the loose puck and wrist-shot the puck past Oilers’ goalie Stuart Skinner and into the net. With 4:36 left in regulation, the Canucks would make it a one-goal game at 3-2 after coming away with a face-off win and Quinn Hughes would feed the puck to Filip Hronek near the blue line, who would snap-shot the puck past Skinner. The Canucks would pull Silovs with two minutes left for the extra-attacker looking to find the equalizing goal and keep their season alive. However, the Oilers’ defense would hold strong late and fend off a late Canucks’ surge to advance to the Western Conference Finals for the second time in three seasons as they start their series against the Stars on Thursday night in Dallas.
