The Edmonton Oilers came out of the gate for their second round matchup against the Vancouver Canucks with a 4-1 lead, but reverted to their early season habits, allowing four un-answered goals and losing game one 5-4 on the road.
The Oilers scored first on the powerplay, courtesy of Zach Hyman. The winger scored twice in game one giving him the playoff lead in goals with nine.
Down 4-2 heading into the third period, Canucks centre J.T. Miller redirected a Brock Boeser shot from inside the blue line from a bad angle past Skinner to energize the home fans.
The Oilers managed just one shot in the final frame before pulling Skinner with 2:09 left in the game, putting three shots on Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs during a furious effort at game’s end.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid thought his group overall played a good game, but credits Vancouver for their resiliency.
Head coach for the Oilers Kris Knoblauch cites his teams lack of assertiveness in the later portion of the game as one of the reasons why they faltered in game one.
Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl, who had two assists in game one, seemed to be bothered by something leaving the game in the 2nd period. Knoblauch played down his injury telling media he was dealing with cramps and will be good for game 2.
The Oil will look to rebound and even the series at 1-1 in Vancouver on Friday night.
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