Nikita Zadorov and Conor Garland scored 39 seconds apart to cap a wild third-period comeback as the host Vancouver Canucks claimed a 5-4 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series.
Dakota Joshua scored once in a three-point game, while Zadorov and Elias Lindholm each netted one goal and one assist for the Canucks. J.T. Miller added a goal in the win. Carson Soucy netted two assists and goaltender Arturs Silovs stopped 13 shots.
Vancouver also won all four regular-season meetings between the Pacific Division rivals.
Zach Hyman scored twice for the Oilers, who held a 4-1 lead late in the second period. Mattias Ekholm and Cody Ceci also scored. Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins collected two assists and goalie Stuart Skinner made 19 saves.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will be Friday in Vancouver.
With his team trailing 4-1, Lindholm scored his third goal of the playoffs with 2:51 remaining in the second period to ignite the comeback. He put the puck to the front of the net and it banked into the cage off Skinner’s stick.
Miller notched his second goal of the postseason at 9:38 of the third period by neatly redirecting a shot into the cage to trim the Canucks’ deficit to 4-3. Zadorov tied the score at 13:47 with a blistering one-timer from beyond the left circle for his third of the playoffs.
Less than a minute later, Garland scored the winning goal when he slipped a five-hole shot while holding off a check for his first of the playoffs.
The Oilers pushed feverishly to tie the clash but managed only four shots on goal in the third period in a game they controlled.
Hyman sent Edmonton off and running when he opened the scoring just 2:11 into the game on the power play. Ekholm doubled the lead at 15:01 of the first period by blasting a shot for his first goal of the playoffs.
Joshua’s third goal of the playoffs 53 seconds into the second period put Vancouver on the board. Ceci restored Edmonton’s two-goal edge at 12:26 of the period when he unloaded a one-timer during an odd-man rush. Hyman pushed the Oilers’ lead to 4-1 by scoring his second of the night, and ninth of the playoffs, 45 seconds later.
–Field Level Media