EDMONTON, Alberta — Vancouver rookie goalie Arturs Silovs is already earning a reputation for stepping up in big moments.
Silovs stopped 42 shots, Brock Boeser had two goals and an assist, and Elias Lindholm also scored twice as the Canucks held on to beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Sunday night to take a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.
“The kid has given us game,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said of the goalie. “It’s a big stage, and he’s not blinking. He’s coming in every day and he’s working hard.”
Quinn Hughes and J.T. Miller each had two assists for the Canucks.
Silovs withstood another late barrage when the Oilers, trailing 4-2, opted to pull goalie Calvin Pickard in favor of an extra attacker with 3:23 on the clock.
Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch did everything he could to keep superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the ice, including calling a timeout with 2:39 to go.
The persistence finally paid off with 1:16 remaining when Evan Bouchard launched a long shot on net and the puck bounced off Silovs’ glove and in.
The 23-year-old Latvian goalie faced 36 shots over the second and third periods while allowing just two goals.
“I just felt confident,” Silovs said, adding that his teammates supported him in Vancouver’s 5-4 win to open the series Wednesday. “So I had to have them today. Everyone’s resilient, blocking shots. Really high scoring chances they had, and our guys managed to block a lot of them. So credit to them, too.”
Mattias Ekholm and Draisaitl also scored for the Oilers. Stuart Skinner stopped 11 of 15 shots before he was replaced by Pickard to start the third period. Pickard finished with three saves in his NHL playoff debut.
Game 4 in the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night back here in Edmonton.
Edmonton’s league-leading power play was 2 for 4, and Vancouver was 2 for 3.
“I thought we were the better team, for the most part,” Draisaitl said. “In my eyes, it should have resulted in a win, but that’s not the way hockey works, sometimes. We just regroup and get ready for Game 4.”
Edmonton created a lot of chances, Knoblauch said, and the team will have to keep that up as the series continues.
“Eventually the pucks are going to start going in a little more,” he said. “Tonight, having three, that’s enough to win, especially during the playoffs. You look at the amount of opportunities that we have, we just have to be persistent and continue to push. We’ll get some more breaks.”
The Oilers’ potent power play got to work early in the first period after Boeser was sent off for slashing. After Evander Kane‘s shot was blocked in front of the Vancouver net, the puck bounced out to Ekholm, who fired it past Silovs to put Edmonton up 5:37 into the game.
Ekholm now has goals in three straight playoff games — and is the first Oilers defenseman to achieve the feat since Paul Coffey in 1985.
The Canucks replied with a power-play tally of their own at 8:45. Stationed at the goal line, Hughes sliced a past to Boeser, who sent a long shot sailing through traffic. Lindholm tipped it in to tie the score at 1-1 with his fourth goal of the postseason.
Vancouver took the lead midway through the first after the Oilers left Boeser wide open in the faceoff circle. Miller sent him a pass and Boeser ripped a shot past Skinner with 6:42 to go in the period.
Boeser boosted the Canucks’ lead to 3-1 just over five minutes later. Her picked the puck off Warren Foegele near the boards, took a couple of strides toward the net and buried his second goal of the night and seventh of the playoffs.
Draisaitl has points in all eight of Edmonton’s playoff games this season, with seven goals and 10 assists across the stretch. Bouchard had an assist on Draisaitl’s goal, extending his point streak to six games (two goals, six assists).
“I feel pretty confident,” Boeser said. “But I think it just comes with trying to play the right way and really just focusing on the little details in our structure. I’m just trying to do anything I can to help our team win. And it’s always nice when the goals go in.”
Edmonton nearly cut the deficit to a one in the closing seconds of the first when Derek Ryan rang a shot off the post.
Oilers fans celebrated early in the second when it appeared Corey Perry scored. Silovs swept the puck off the goal line but Perry celebrated in front of the net. After review, officials determined there was no goal.
The Oilers made it 3-2 on a man advantage at 3:36 of the second when Draisaitl sent a sharp-angle shot into Silovs’ pad and it bounced in for the German forward’s seventh of the playoffs.
The Canucks regained the two-goal advantage with 2:25 remaining in the middle period. Miller blasted a long shot toward the Oilers’ net and Lindholm picked it up, kicking the puck to his stick at the bottom of the slot, then shoveling a backhanded shot into the Edmonton net.
