*Sorry for the lack of photos! Hoping to get permission eventually.*
On Thursday, May 16th, the Canucks hosted the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Arena in hopes to break the series tie. The Canucks were successful, after a 2-2 tie with only 32 seconds left in regulation to possibly head into overtime, J.T. Miller scored the game-winning goal for a 3-2 final and to take the series lead. Edmonton will host the Canucks on Saturday to either tie the series back up or get eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs while the Canucks move forward.
Oilers lineup against the Canucks:
Nugent-Hopkins - McDavid - Hyman
Kane - Draisaitl - Holloway
Foegele - McLeod - Perry
Janmark - Ryan - Brown
Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Desharnais
Kulak - Ceci
Pickard
Skinner
Canucks lineup against the Oilers:
Suter - Miller - Boeser
Hoglander - Lindholm - Pettersson
Joshua - Blueger - Garland
Di Giuseppe - Aman - Podkolzin
Hughes - Hronek
Soucy - Myers
Zadorov - Cole
Silovs
DeSmith
Evander Kane broke the ice early in the opening frame with 15:26 on the clock after receiving a pass from Leon Draisaitl below the goal line. Kane struck from the left face-off circle with a one-timer to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead. Later on in the first with 2:33 remaining, Carson Soucy tied it up at 1-1 through traffic when he fired a snap shot from the top of the left circle over the glove of Calvin Pickard. Only 23 seconds later, the Oilers regained the lead when Mattias Janmark took a cross-crease pass from Connor Brown at the left post during a 2-on-1 rush to make it 2-1.
Phillip Di Giuseppe tied it early in the middle frame at 14:46, this being the only goal scored in the period. He collected the puck in front when Nils Aman nudged it away from Evan Bouchard from behind the net, the puck getting to Di Giuseppe, and he slipped a spinning backhand between the pads of Calvin Pickard.
After being stuck in a tie since the second period and most of the third and with only 32 seconds left on the clock, J.T. Miller wrapped it up. The puck hit the far post, bouncing to Miller, and then he tapped it in the open net at the left post after Elias Lindholm chucked it to the net from the right wing, deflecting off Elias Pettersson's skate, and to Miller for a 3-2 final.
J.T. Miller on the game overall and how he saw his game-winning goal develop: "I thought about halfway through the first, we kind of got legs and started to dictate play. It was nice to see us put together a second period at home here. It feels like it's been a hard period for us this year, so I thought from that point on, we stuck to it. That was a second period where I thought we could've gotten more and I thought that we basically came right back out in the third and did the same thing. It felt nice to be patient and get rewarded," - "I was open for a split second early and I'm glad 'Lindy' didn't force it there because McDavid was ready to go the other way and it's one of the ones where we got a nice bounce... 'Petey' went to the net and it hit him on the foot and off the post, and I think I got a little lucky. The puck was kind of all over the place. So, just nice to get rewarded at the end of the game."
Notes:
- Arturs Silovs made a total of 21 saves for Vancouver.
- This had been Phillip Di Giuseppe's first game back since missing the previous two due to the birth of his son, following a difficult pregnancy.
- The Canucks, who had changed three of their forward lines ahead of Game 5, outshot the Edmonton Oilers 17-4 in the second period and finished with 35 shots, their most in the playoffs.
- Brock Boeser's five-game point streak was put to an end, ending with seven points; three goals and four assists.
- Carson Soucy returned to the lineup after missing the past game due to a suspension for cross-checking Connor McDavid in Game 3.
- Calvin Pickard made a total of 32 saves for Edmonton in his second straight start.
- Leon Draisaitl, who has 98 career playoff points, passed Esa Tikkanen for sixth in Edmonton Oilers history and he became the fourth player in the past 25 years to open the playoffs with a point streak of at least 10 games. Draisaitl has 21 points during his streak (eight goals, 13 assists).
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