GAME STORY: Oilers 4, Canucks 1

FIRST BLOOD

The Canucks scored a strange one just 34 seconds into the game to take an early 1-0 lead as Nils Hoglander and Brock Boeser broke loose on a mini two-on-one rush. Hoglander slid a pass underneath the legs of Darnell Nurse, who had dropped down to his stomach, and the puck bounced off both of Boeser’s legs before rolling past Mike Smith for his 19th goal of the season and 200th career point.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Down 1-0 with five and a half minutes remaining in the second period, the Oilers finally solved Vancouver goalie Thatcher Demko as the dynamic duo connected for a no-doubt tally. McDavid intercepted a pass from J.T. Miller behind the Canucks net and quickly found Leon Draisaitl cutting to the crease for the short-side, top-shelf snap shot to even the score. The reigning league MVP had his 25th goal of the season and started a stretch of three Edmonton goals in the final 5:31 of the period.

SAVE OF THE GAME

For the second straight night the Oilers second line of Dominik Kahun, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kailer Yamamoto generated a bunch of scoring chances but Demko had their number, including a point-blank denial on Kahun with 12:11 to go in the first period. The German made a pass to the high slot to Nugent-Hopkins, who shoveled it to the right wing to Yamamoto, who fired it back to Kahun cutting to the net and Demko turned aside the redirection.

Video: POST-RAW | Leon Draisaitl 05.04.21

TURNING POINT

Draisaitl scored his second goal in less than three minutes late in the middle frame to pull the Oilers ahead 2-1 while Edmonton was on a four-on-three power play, ultimately holding up as the game-winner. Tanner Pearson and Miller got called for hooking and high-sticking, respectively, 21 seconds apart to send the Oilers to the man advantage and McDavid set up Draisaitl for a one-timer in his wheelhouse on the right flank for Draisaitl’s 26th goal and McDavid’s 93rd point.

TOP PERFORMER

Draisaitl achieved the 25-goal mark for the fifth consecutive season with his two-tally effort on Tuesday, also hitting 75 points for the fourth time in the last five years. He led all Oilers forwards in ice time at 19:06 and recorded four shots on goal while also winning 54% of his faceoffs.

Video: POST-RAW | Evan Bouchard 05.04.21

FACT CHECK

With his two assists, McDavid now has multi-point performances in eight of his last nine games with eight goals and 16 assists over that span. The Oilers captain also has two or more points in five consecutive road games as he’s now just seven points away from 100 with five games left in the season.

NEXT UP

The Oilers and Canucks just finished two games in Vancouver and now they’ll play two in Edmonton on Thursday and Saturday. The Oilers will then head to Montreal for games against their potential first-round foe the Canadiens next Monday and Wednesday before meeting the Canucks again at Rogers Place on May 15 to conclude the regular season.

Video: POST-RAW | Dave Tippett 05.04.21

PARTING WORDS

“That’s what good teams do, right? They hang in there,” Draisaitl said of overcoming the 1-0 deficit and scoring four unanswered goals. “A lot of times it’s not pretty. It doesn’t need to be pretty, and I think we’ve started to learn that and figure that part out. It’s won us a lot of hockey games this season and we’re looking to continue that going into the playoffs.”

“He does so much for our team on a nightly basis, the least we can do is help him out as much as we can,” Draisaitl said of McDavid approaching 100 points. “It might not be that important to him, but it sure is important for us for him to get to that point… Our team really wants him to get it.”

“They were good at keeping me in the loop with what’s going on and the plan for me,” Evan Bouchard said of the coaching staff as the Oilers defenceman played for the first time since March 1. “They really wanted to emphasize to me to treat my practices like a game because you never know when you’re going to get in.”

“Bouchard has a great future with our team and we’ve got to continue to develop and build his game,” Head Coach Dave Tippett said of the blueliner’s performance as he logged 20:13 and scored his third career goal.