Bouchard Scores Late Winner, Oilers Edge Canucks 3-2 To Tie Playoff Series At 2 Games Apiece

EDMONTON, Alberta — Evan Bouchard scored the game-winning goal with 38.1 seconds left to help the Edmonton Oilers defeat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in Game 4 of their second-round playoff series on Tuesday night.

The win tied the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series at two apiece, with Game 5 scheduled for Thursday night in Vancouver.

The Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl opened the scoring on a power play in the first period, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored late in the second.

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Bouchard Scores Late Winner, Oilers Edge Canucks 3-2 To Tie Playoff Series At 2 Games Apiece

Conor Garland and Dakota Joshua scored third-period goals for the Canucks, who lost their first away game of the playoffs.

Calvin Pickard made 19 saves in his first NHL playoff start, and Arturs Silovs stopped 27 of 30 shots for Vancouver.

Pickard, 32, replaced Stuart Skinner, who gave up four goals on 15 shots in Edmonton’s Game 3 loss on Sunday.

“(Pickard) looked like a guy who had played 100 playoff games,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Composed, really solid, seeing the puck really well.”

Pickard signed with Edmonton as a free agent in July 2022, his 13th professional season. He has spent most of his career with the American Hockey League affiliate, Bakersfield Condors.

He was promoted to the NHL team’s backup job in November when the Oilers demoted struggling goaltender Jack Campbell to the AHL.

Backing up has yet to result in consistent ice time. Pickard’s last appearance before taking over for Skinner was on April 18.

Knoblauch claimed he was impressed with the goaltender even when he wasn’t playing.

“Continually, his starts have been solid, no matter how long he sat, a week, two weeks,” the trainer stated. “We have a lot of confidence in him and he came up big tonight.”

Pickard said that maintaining composure during Tuesday’s game was difficult.

“I was trying to channel my emotions as much as I could,” he stated. “Obviously it’s difficult; it’s a high-risk game. Obviously, this is a big game for us. But I felt at ease from the beginning.”

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Bouchard Scores Late Winner, Oilers Edge Canucks 3-2 To Tie Playoff Series At 2 Games Apiece

Connor McDavid cut a blazing pass to Draisaitl, who fired a one-timer past Silovs from the bottom of the right faceoff circle. The goalie got his glove on the shot, but it bobbled and bounced into the net, giving the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 11:10.

Draisaitl’s point streak now spans all nine of Edmonton’s postseason games. With eight goals and 12 assists, he leads the league with playoff points.

The Oilers pushed harder in the second period but were again hampered by Silovs.

With less than a minute remaining in the second period, the Oilers had a two-on-one opportunity due to a failed hit.

Mattias Ekholm picked up a stray puck in the neutral zone, and when Juulsen attempted to knock him off, the veteran defenseman passed to Nugent-Hopkins. With 39.8 seconds left in the period, the centerman sprinted up the ice and shot over Silovs’ stick, giving Edmonton a 2-0 lead.

Garland finally got a puck past Pickard 6:54 into the third period, blasting a shot from the top of the slot that trimmed Vancouver’s deficit to 2-1.

The Canucks removed Silovs with 2:38 remaining in favor of an extra attacker, and the Canucks capitalized.

Brock Boeser retrieved a feed from Quinn Hughes, waited a moment for his chance, then fired at the Edmonton net, and the ball rebounded in off Joshua’s skate with 1:41 remaining in the third

The Oilers refused to give up, and with 38.1 seconds remaining, Bouchard fired a shot that pinged off Silovs’ stick for his fourth playoff goal.

Silovs, a rookie, delivered another strong performance, according to Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet.

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Bouchard Scores Late Winner, Oilers Edge Canucks 3-2 To Tie Playoff Series At 2 Games Apiece

Others on the team showed up differently, he noted.

“We’ve been a resilient group all year,” Tocchet remarked. “But we need five or six guys to get started here. This is the Stanley Cup playoffs. I don’t know whether some of these men thought it was playoffs. We can’t play with twelve guys. “We need to figure it out quickly.”

Canucks defenceman Carson Soucy received a one-game penalty for cross-checking Connor McDavid after the final buzzer in Game 3. Noah Juulsen took his place in the lineup.

SOURCE – (AP)