Vancouver Canucks' Conor Garland (8) and Edmonton Oilers' Mattias Janmark (13) battle for the loose puck during third period. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)
Brock Boeser had two goals and an assist, and the Vancouver Canucks hung on for a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series.
The Canucks now lead the best-of-seven matchup 2-1, with Game 4 set for Tuesday in Edmonton.
The Oilers used their league-leading power play to secure goals from Mattias Ekholm and Leon Draisaitl, and a late tally from Evan Bouchard.
Stuart Skinner stopped 11 of 15 shots before he was replaced by Calvin Pickard to start the third period. Pickard had three saves in his NHL playoff debut.
Oilers Head Coach Kris Knoblauch says persistence remains the key to win playoff games.
Pickard wasn’t tested by the Canucks until 11:55 into the third when he turned away a Nikita Zadorov snap shot.
Edmonton pulled the goalie in favour of an extra attacker with 3:23 left on the game clock and pressed its top scorers into action in a bid to even the score.
Knoblauch got his players a brief rest when he called a time out with 2:39 to go.
The persistence finally paid off with 76 seconds left on the clock when Bouchard launched a long bomb on net and the puck bounced off Silovs’ glove and in.
Knoblauch employed some late gamesmanship after the goal, putting Skinner in net to get his players a few extra seconds of breathing time. He pulled the starter again with a minute left, but Edmonton couldn’t score the equalizer.
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