After losing Game 5, the Oilers found themselves in a must-win situation. Coming off a poor showing on Thursday they needed an impressive performance and they certainly did not disappoint. Edmonton came out to a blazing hot start with a Dylan Holloway goal and spent only half a period tied before crushing the Canucks in the second and third periods. It was a nearly perfect performance, reminiscent of the seemingly effortless regular season routs that Edmonton has been known to administer to bottom five teams in the McDavid era.
The goals from last night
First period
The Oilers struck first and it was Dylan Holloway setting the tone with authority. He took a nice pass from Draisaitl and blew by the defenders before neatly sliding it between the legs of Arturs Silovs. That was a thing of beauty.
The Canucks answered quickly though, Nils Hoglander made an immediate impact on a new line with Elias Lindholm and Elias Pettersson. He carried the puck into the zone, left it for Pettersson who carried it behind the net, then got the puck back from Pettersson in the slot before scoring on his second whack at it. It was a bad look for the Oilers’ defence as a whole; Hoglander is sitting in the slot three feet from five Oilers and is still able to get two chances. That’s two too many.
Second Period
The Oilers scored the first goal of the period once again. There are times in the game when you get the feeling that McDavid is going to make something happen. He just gets an extra jump in his step and the puck is glued to his stick, this was one of those times. McDavid gifted Hyman two beautiful chances, the first one was denied, but he quickly recovered the puck and sent a well-timed pass to Hyman again, who fumbled briefly, confusing Tyler Myers and Silovs, then fired it home.
The Oilers took a 3–1 lead on an absolute cannon from Evan Bouchard. McDavid was still in the zone after his assist only a few minutes earlier. The Oilers held extended possession in the offensive zone before a bobble at the blue line. Pius Suter nearly broke free but was stopped at the Oilers blue line. Instead of taking this time for a much-needed change, the Canucks hoped to capitalize on the brief mistake and stayed on the ice. The puck was quickly turned around and the Oilers established a zone presence again, this time with exhausted Canucks. McDavid picked the puck up at the half wall and fed Bouchard on the point where Bouchard took out all his anger on the puck, blasting it blocker side, post and in.
Third Period
The Oilers took a commanding 4–1 lead on a textbook McDavid assist. McDavid soared into the zone on the right wing, outstripped his man, and laid a pass on the outstretched stick of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who was able to redirect it between the wickets of Silovs.
Evander Kane made it 5-1 for the Oilers, and if the fourth goal wasn’t the nail in the coffin, then this one was. Plain and simple, Draisaitl wins the faceoff cleanly straight back to Kane who fires a seeing-eye shot straight through a heavy screen and into the back of the net.
The Holloway Affirmation
Dylan Holloway has had a slow start to his career, slow enough that people have certainly asserted in the past that he should be playing in the AHL. He has had to endure the criticism and accusations that he has not been living up to the chops of a first round pick and that he should have been passed over in favour of others. Admittedly it has been hard to argue with these objections as he has not yet shown the promise that is the province of the first 32 picks of the draft. At the end of this season, he earned his spot on the playoff roster with terrific performances in the final games. Still some people wondered if that was the right choice, if Kris Knoblauch would live to regret that decision.
Quite to the contrary, he has not yet been a liability and has shown glimpses of greatness, like his two goal performance in Game 2 against the Los Angeles Kings. A talent which showed itself again last night when he blew past Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, and Filip Hronek before beating Silovs with a slick move. Holloway rounded out his performance with at least one steal on the back check and plenty of offensive enthusiasm, presenting himself in dangerous positions in order to create threatening chances and complementing Draisaitl’s game very well. Holloway was noticeable last night, and he looked like he belonged on the second line.
Notes on the game
Somehow the Oilers were able to go from five back-and-forth, one goal games, to a blowout of the Canucks. It’s very difficult to give a meaningful analysis of what was done differently. The truth is that McDavid, Draisaitl, Bouchard, Nugent-Hopkins, and Hyman, all the usual suspects, showed up and took control of this game, nearly from start to finish. The first period was by far the most even, each team registering four shots, one goal, and roughly the same amount of zone time and scoring chances. Unfortunately for the Canucks, that is where the parity ended.
The second period was pure domination from the Oilers. Not only did they score two titanic-sized goals, they killed off a minute-long 5v3 to avenge their own failed 5v3. They dominated in shots and zone time, only allowing Vancouver five shots to Edmonton’s 14. This was as close to a perfect period as the Oilers have played this postseason.
Although the third period was probably closer than the score would indicate, the Canucks having mounted a heavy pushback just after the 10 minute mark, the Oilers were still the clear victors, cementing the win with two more goals.
One thing that has been different, though not from last game, was Holloway playing on the second line. What was different in this game was how well he seemed to fit in on that line.
The second difference was Stuart Skinner getting the start. Skinner played solidly but the skaters in blue and orange ahead of him played well enough that he only saw 15 shots.
The third difference was that Sam Carrick was inserted into the lineup, replacing Corey Perry who has not had the desired effect. However, with Carrick only having played 10 minutes, and not mixing in any crushing hits, you’d be fibbing if you said he was the difference last night.
Even though Silovs has had a good run, after the thrashing Vancouver received, they’ll be scrambling to get Demko back into the net, even if they have to prop him up with his own goal stick. Game 7 is likely to see a Canucks resurgence and Skinner will need to be sharp but all in all, the Oilers showed what they are capable of and if they can play Game 7 like they did Game 6, they’ll be on a flight to Dallas in no time.
