Canucks lose to Oilers 5-1, series headed to Game 7

The Vancouver Canucks lost to the Edmonton Oilers Saturday night, forcing the second-round series to go to Game 7.

The Vancouver Canucks lost to the Edmonton Oilers Saturday night, forcing the second-round series to go to Game 7. Edmonton avoided elimination from the all-Canadian matchup at home with a 5-1 victory, the first time in the series the game was decided by more than one goal.

Vancouver’s rookie goalie Arturs Silovs stopped 22 out of 25 shots. Stuart Skinner was back in net for the Oilers after Calvin Pickard was given the starter role for Game 4 and 5, and he blocked 14 out of 15 shots on goal.

Nils Hoglander scored the only goal for the Canucks, his first of the playoffs.

The Canucks got two power play chances in the first period, one under two minutes in when Leon Draisaitl went to the box for interference, and again at 11:16 after Connor McDavid was called for high-sticking, but Vancouver didn’t manage to score any goals while the Oilers were short-handed.

The Oilers opened the scoring 8:18 into the first, with Dylan Holloway getting a wrist shot between Silovs’ legs.

Vancouver responded just under two minutes later. Elias Pettersson passed to Hoglander, who was ready in front of the net to send a backhanded shot into the goal.

With less than a second left in the period, Evan Bouchard found the back of Vancouver’s net in a would-be buzzer-beater, but it was disallowed due to goalie interference as McDavid bumped into Silovs in the crease, causing him to fall backwards to the ice.