Edmonton Oilers' Evan Bouchard, right, Dylan Holloway, left, and Evander Kane, centre, celebrate a goal against the Vancouver Canucks in Edmonton on May 14.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
The Oilers and Canucks are engaged in a fierce and furious all-Canadian playoff series. Four one-goal games, one that went to overtime and another on Tuesday that was on the way there before Edmonton pulled it out with 38 seconds left.
It’s something to behold, something that Canada’s hockey fans should embrace, even if their teams are not involved. One will reach the Western Conference final, giving it a chance to win the Stanley Cup. A Canadian team hasn’t accomplished this since 1993.
There have been plenty of chills and thrills. The best-of-seven jousting match is tied at two wins each with Game 5 teed up for Thursday in Vancouver and Game 6 in Alberta’s capital on Saturday.
The Oilers possibly saved their season with a clutch 3-2 victory in Game 4. A loss would have pitched them into a 3-1 hole that few teams are able to climb out of. They did it with a 32-year-old backup goalie starting his first postseason game, and after blowing a 2-0 lead in the third period.
Edmonton controlled much of the play over the first 40 minutes but backed off after that and tried to run out the clock. The Canucks gathered some steam and then Dakota Joshua tied it with 1 minute 41 seconds remaining.
It felt like a total collapse was coming and then Evan Bouchard found the back of the net with the help of a screen by Evander Kane in the dying seconds. No drama at all.
It has been a funny series in that either team could argue that it should be ahead 3-1 or even have swept it by now. It has been a brutal series as well, full of those bone-crushing hits that have become synonymous with playoff hockey.
If it’s not Nikita Zadorov laying out an Oiler, it is Kane crashing one into the boards in the last minute on Tuesday and possibly waking up his teammates after they had surrendered the lead.
Stars are shining.
Bouchard has scored the winners in both Edmonton victories. In Game 2 he scored 5:38 into overtime to even the series at 1-1. He has three goals and three assists in four games.
Leon Draisaitl had a power-play marker in the first period and an assist on Bouchard’s goal and now has three goals and seven assists in the series. Connor McDavid chipped in another assist and now has six points in the series, 18 in nine postseason outings.
J.T. Miller has done a fine job defending against McDavid, Quinn Hughes has four assists in as many games, Joshua has done yeoman’s work and Arturs Silovs, a rookie pressed into duty because of injuries to other Canuck netminders, had 27 saves in Game 4 after saving 42 in the preceding game. He has been peppered with shots throughout and has stood tall.
Which brings us to backup goalie Calvin Pickard. After Stuart Skinner was picked apart for 12 goals in three games, the Oilers called on Pickard, whose only playoff experience came in relief of Stuart in Game 3.
He was drafted in the second round by the Colorado Avalanche in 2010 and since then has played 241 games in the WHL, 322 in the AHL and just 140 in the NHL.
On Tuesday he was able to mostly hold the Canucks at bay and put Edmonton in a position to win. To this point he has played for six NHL teams, seven in the WHL and AHL and one in Austria.
“It has been a great journey for me,” Pickard said afterward. “I’m just grateful for this opportunity.”
Standing in front of his dressing stall, Draisaitl said this, “What an awesome guy and an awesome story. I am super proud of him. What he just did is not an easy thing to do.”
Nothing is easy during the postseason.
Canucks coach Rick Tocchet was miffed at some of his players after the game. He said they played too softly and made multiple mistakes on Bouchard’s winning goal. Then, without naming anyone, called some guys out.
“We need five or six guys to get going,” Tocchet said. “We had some guys that acted like they didn’t know it was the Stanley Cup playoffs. You can’t win if you have five or six passengers.”
There is still much more to come.