Oilers rely on old and new heroes to steal Game 2 against Golden Knights
This Oilers team appears to be entirely different than years past, as the “new hero every night” tag that championship teams so often reference has thus far applied to the once top-heavy Edmonton squad.
LAS VEGAS — Honey, start the car!
In a city known to leave you broke, the Edmonton Oilers grabbed the gold and ran Thursday, winning a wild overtime game to grab a 2-0 stranglehold on the Vegas Golden Knights in their Western Conference Round 2 series.
Edmonton blew a 4-2 third-period lead, failed to score when gifted with a five-minute power play in overtime, then proceeded to hit two posts before referee Gord Dwyer missed what should have been a tripping penalty on Viktor Arvidsson.
Through all of that, the game managed to last just long enough for the two players who had perhaps accomplished the least on the night — superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — to put the finishing stamp on the evening, with McDavid feeding Draisaitl for the OT winner in a zany 5-4 victory.
“Not our best — not my best — but we found a way,” said McDavid, whose only point on the night came on a slick two-on-one feed to Draisaitl at 15:20 of OT — the Gretzky-to-Kurri or Bossy-to-Trottier of this generation. “That’s what we get paid to do, score goals in big moments and we found a way tonight.”
“We didn’t have much going on, but … that’s all Davo,” said Draisaitl of the game-winner. “It’s tough to even really celebrate my part in the goal. It’s not a great feeling (for a Vegas defender) when you have 97 coming at you full steam. Just an all-world play.”
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In years past, Edmonton likely wouldn’t have survived two road games where Draisaitl and McDavid had combined for just one goal through the first 120 minutes. Not to mention a power play that is 0-for-12 on the road this spring.
But this team appears to be entirely different, as the “new hero every night” tag that championship teams so often reference has thus far applied to the once top-heavy Oilers.
Just eight games into this playoff journey, Edmonton has a playoff goal from all 12 forwards — and two more from defencemen Thursday. There’s a new trio producing every game among lines 2 through 4 — and the top line has a pair of walk-in Hall of Famers on it.
Bruce Cassidy couldn’t believe his team would hold McDavid and Draisaitl pointless through regulation, and not come away with a win.
“It’s 4-4, and I’m thinking, ‘Their top guys aren’t on the score sheet. We need this one to go our way,’” the Golden Knights head coach said. “They don’t need much, right?”
“They got us at the end.”
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The last time the Oilers opened a series with a pair of road wins was in 2017 against Anaheim. They went on to lose that series, in large part due to a few greasy maneuvers by Corey Perry, then a Duck.
This time, they’ll skate out on a Saturday night in May before a rabid, well-oiled house at Rogers Place with a chance for that rare jewel in any Stanley Cup run — a short, four- or five-game series that provides a week off between rounds, while Winnipeg and Dallas pound away at each other over in the Central Division.
“It means nothing if we’re not ready to go at home,” McDavid confirmed. “Two good efforts here, but it means nothing if we’re not ready to roll for Game 3.”
This was, to some extent, wild west highway larceny. And the guy driving the stage coach was goalie Calvin Pickard, who vastly outplayed Adin Hill in the Vegas nets.
Pickard, who is becoming the story of these Stanley Cup Playoffs to some extent, made some marvellous saves before the cavalry finally arrived, but appeared to be dinged up in the process. He did not speak with media post-game, assumedly because he was being treated.
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“You don’t know who’s going to be the hero on any given night,” said Zach Hyman. “I thought today it was Picks, and I thought it was Janne’s line.”
The fourth line of Mattias Janmark between Vasily Podkolzin and Viktor Arvidsson provided two second-period goals, by Podkolzin and Darnell Nurse, in just 11 minutes of ice time. Then, they almost gave it back when Arvidsson got a stick between the feet of Vegas defenceman Brayden McNabb as he went back to retrieve a puck, sending him dangerously into the boards.
“Gord (Dwyer) is looking right at it,” said Cassidy. “He blew it, he missed the call. It’s a can-opener trip.
“It stings to lose that way.”
A couple of shifts later the puck was behind Hill. The Oilers fired up the bus and got out of Dodge.
“That’s overtime,” said Hyman. “The bounces, you just don’t know when the opportunity is going to come for you to make a play.
“And obviously, we’ve got two special players there at the end.”
