Do you believe?
The Vancouver Canucks certainly do after a stunning 5-4 comeback win over the Edmonton Oilers in the first game of their second-round playoff series Wednesday night at Rogers Arena.
Down 4-1 late in the second period, the Canucks got a goal from Elias Lindholm to cut the margin to 4-2 heading into the third period. Lindholm attempted a pass to Dakota Joshua from the side of the crease but watched it deflect off Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinnersa国际传媒檚 stick and into the net.
That break gave the Canucks some juice heading into the third period.
J.T. Millersa国际传媒檚 sharp angle redirect of a Brock Boeser pass from the right wall at 9:38 of the third made it a one-goal game at 4-3.
Then the playoff legend of Nikita Zadorov grew with yet another chapter as he wired home a shot from the point that went off Edmontonsa国际传媒檚 Corey Perry to tie the game at 4-4 at 13:47.
Then 39 seconds later, Zadorov won a puck battle behind the Canucks goal, then fired a stretch pass to center ice to Dakota Joshua. Joshua then executed a nifty little backhand pass that sent Conor Garland down the right side. Garland faked a shot and then fired home the winner from a sharp angle to cap off the comeback.
Like we mentioned in , the Canucks are becoming a dangerous team because they believe they can win any game no matter what the circumstances.
sa国际传媒淥bviously we have come back before. This team has a never-give-up mentality. We were down 4-1 but it still felt like we could come back. We did a good job of staying with it and got the result we needed,sa国际传媒� noted Lindholm.
sa国际传媒淲e are always confident. Like Huggy (Quinn Hughes) said, no matter what the score is we are going to keep playing hard and keep playing the same way. Tonight was an example of it sa国际传媒� just staying with it sa国际传媒� and we got the bounces tonight,sa国际传媒� said Joshua.
From the Oilers perspective, it was more of a situation of not being aggressive enough with a 4-1 lead.
sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檙e a good team. They were doing everything they could to come back and we were doing everything we could to hold onto the lead. That happens in the playoffs. We try to hold on to leads and sometimes maybe wesa国际传媒檙e a little bit too passive,sa国际传媒� said Connor McDavid, who failed to record a shot for the first time in 55 career playoff games.
sa国际传媒淥bviously it wasnsa国际传媒檛 how we wanted to play. We could have been a little more assertive. We allowed them to get back in the game,sa国际传媒� said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch.
The numbers on the analytical site Natural Stattrick really didnsa国际传媒檛 back up those claims though.
As far as high danger scoring chances, the Canucks had five in the first, four in the second and only one in the third. As for the Oilers, they had two in the first, one in the second and one in the third.
Those numbers backed up the way Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet saw the game.
sa国际传媒淚 said after it was 4-1, itsa国际传媒檚 not that bad. Donsa国际传媒檛 get frustrated sa国际传媒� we donsa国际传媒檛 have to push all our chips in. I thought we were pretty good. I think that was the key. There wasnsa国际传媒檛 a lot of guys hanging their heads. Coaches werensa国际传媒檛 yelling and screaming. It wasnsa国际传媒檛 that bad sa国际传媒� I thought we were pretty good,sa国际传媒� said Tocchet.
OVERTIME
* A bench minor for too many men by the Canucks resulted in an early Oiler power play goal by Zach Hyman at 2:11 of the first to give the Oilers the lead. Later on in the period, a miscue by Ian Cole resulted in a Mattias Ekholm goal to make it 2-0. A goal by Joshua early in the second period brought the Rogers Arena crowd to life and gave the Canucks some juice but that was short-lived as Edmontonsa国际传媒檚 Cody Ceci scored after his shot caromed off of Cole to give the Oilers a 3-1 lead. Hyman scored a weak goal on a wrist shot :45 seconds later to make it 4-1 Oilers at 13:11 of the second period.
* Arturs Silovs got the start in goal for Vancouver and stopped 14 of 18 shots. Skinner made 19 of 24 saves for Edmonton.
* The Oilers special teams continued their post-season dominance by blanking the Canucks on four power play opportunities to run their streak to 16 straight kills in the playoffs. Meanwhile with Hymansa国际传媒檚 power play goal the Oilers went 1 for 2 on the night with the man advantage and now are 10 for 22 on the power play in the post-season.
* Leon Draisaitl of the Oilers left the game in the second period and managed to return in the third yet still looked off. sa国际传媒淣othing at all, just some cramping,sa国际传媒� said Knoblauch. That explanation could be taken with a grain of salt considering how teamsa国际传媒檚 do not reveal injury information during the playoffs.
* The usually stoic Tocchet erupted with emotion after the win sa国际传媒� even high-fiving fans as he made his way into the Canucks dressing room. sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 like seeing me doing that. I really donsa国际传媒檛. Not game one,sa国际传媒� chuckled Tocchet, joking he should be fined.
* Game 2 goes Friday night at 7pm at Rogers Arena.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob sa国际传媒渢he Mojsa国际传媒� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
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