Evan Bouchard netted the winning goal with just under a minute left, securing a 3-2 victory for the Edmonton Oilers over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 4 of their playoff series on Tuesday night.
With this win, the Oilers leveled the series at 2-2, with the next game scheduled for Thursday night in Vancouver.
The Oilers got on the board first with a goal from Leon Draisaitl during a power play in the first period. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added another goal late in the second period.
In the third period, Conor Garland and Dakota Joshua scored for the Canucks, but it wasn’t enough to secure a win. Calvin Pickard, making his NHL playoff debut, made 19 saves for the Oilers, while Arturs Silovs stopped 27 shots for Vancouver.
Pickard, who joined the Oilers in July 2022, showed composure and solid performance according to Oilers’ head coach Kris Knoblauch, despite this being his first playoff appearance in his 13-year career.
He moved up to the NHL team’s backup position in November, replacing Jack Campbell, who was struggling and got sent down to the AHL.
But even though he became the backup, Pickard didn’t always get to play regularly. He hadn’t been on the ice since April 18 before replacing Skinner.
Coach Knoblauch praised Pickard’s consistency, saying he’s been solid every time he’s been called upon, regardless of how long he’s had to wait between games.
Pickard admitted it wasn’t easy to stay calm in such an important game, but he managed to keep his emotions in check and felt comfortable right from the start.
The first goal of the game came from a brilliant pass by Connor McDavid to Leon Draisaitl, who fired a powerful shot past Silovs from close to the right faceoff circle. Despite the goalie getting his glove on it, the puck ended up bouncing into the net, giving the Oilers a 1-0 lead.
Draisaitl’s scoring streak now covers all nine games Edmonton has played in the playoffs, with a total of eight goals and 12 assists. This makes him the top scorer in the league during the playoffs. Despite the Oilers’ continued efforts in the second period, they were once again stopped by Silovs.
Near the end of the second period, a missed hit led to a two-on-one opportunity for the Oilers. Mattias Ekholm seized a loose puck in the neutral zone and, as Juulsen tried to block him, passed to Nugent-Hopkins. Nugent-Hopkins swiftly moved up the ice and shot past Silovs to give Edmonton a 2-0 lead with less than a minute remaining in the period.
Garland managed to score for Vancouver early in the third period, firing a powerful shot from the slot to reduce Vancouver’s deficit to 2-1, marking his second goal of the postseason.
With 2:38 left in the game, the Canucks replaced Silovs with an extra attacker, and they made the most of the opportunity.
Boeser got a pass from Hughes and took a shot toward the Edmonton net. The puck bounced off Joshua’s skate and went in with 1:41 left in the third period.
The Oilers didn’t give up, and Bouchard scored with 38.1 seconds left on the clock. He shot the puck in off Silovs’ stick for his fourth goal of the playoffs.
Tocchet, the Canucks’ head coach, said Silovs, a rookie, had another good game. However, he felt that some other players on the team didn’t perform as well.
“We’ve been tough all season,” Tocchet said. “But we need more players to step up now. It’s the Stanley Cup playoffs. Some players didn’t seem to realize it was the playoffs. We can’t rely on just a few players. We need everyone to do their part.”
Canucks defenseman Soucy was suspended for one game for cross-checking McDavid after Game 3. Juulsen took his place in the lineup.
