Oilers in the driver’s seat heading home in series against Golden Knights

Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl (29) scores against Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill (33) during overtime of Game 2 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, in Las Vegas, Thursday, May 8, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-John Locher

The Edmonton Oilers head home from Las Vegas with the odds in their favour.

Teams that win the first two games of a best-of-seven series that starts on the road are 88-22 for a winning percentage of .800, according to the NHL.

The Oilers taking two at T-Mobile from the Vegas Golden Knights was the first time since 2017 that Edmonton opened a playoff series with two road wins. The Anaheim Ducks winning that second-round series in seven games is a cautionary tale for Edmonton, however.

A key figure in that turnaround for the Ducks was current Oiler forward Corey Perry with three goals and two assists in the last four games, including a double-overtime winner in Game 5.

Captain Connor McDavid said the Oilers were “probably fortunate” in a 5-4 overtime win in Game 2 in Las Vegas, and the word “steal” surfaced a few times in Edmonton’s post-game interviews.

“The group’s feeling confident, but I feel like our best is just still coming,” McDavid said. “We’re just building and building our game.

“I feel our best’s still coming, and I’d hope to see it at home here.”

Game 3 is Saturday at Rogers Place followed by Monday’s Game 4. A Game 5, if necessary, is Wednesday back at T-Mobile.

The Golden Knights were undaunted after a stout Game 2 that included superior special teams and the return of top defenceman Alex Pietrangelo after sitting out Game 1 with illness.

Pietrangelo scored the third-period equalizer as the 2023 Stanley Cup champions overcame deficits of 3-1 and 4-2 in the game. The Golden Knights have never lost two games to open a series in their eight-year history.

Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy felt his team deserved a better fate in Game 2 and his players can at least take that sentiment to Edmonton.

“How will the guys look at that? If they take it as ‘hey, we’ve just got to carry that over’, we’ve always said we want to get better as the series goes on and we were certainly better than in Game 1,” Cassidy said. “It’s a veteran group.”

Cassidy said there was a chance Pavel Dorofeyev, the team’s leading scorer in the regular season with 35 goals, could play Saturday after missing three games with injury.

Golden Knights centre Nicolas Roy avoided suspension for his cross check to the face of Oilers counterpart Trent Frederic in the face during the overtime period on Thursday.

The NHL’s department of player safety announced the fine of US$7,813, the maximum allowed under the collective bargaining agreement, after a disciplinary hearing with Roy on Friday.

Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard stretched his playoff win streak to six games to tie Andy Moog (1983) and Grant Fuhr (twice in 1987) for the fifth-longest in franchise history.

Pickard had two playoff starts to his name when he took over for Stuart Skinner in Game 3 of the first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings when Edmonton trailed 2-0.

The 33-year-old Pickard was self-effacing after four straight wins to eliminate the Kings when he said “my job is just to hit the ball back, make the saves when I can.”

Pickard was more than that in Game 2 at T-Mobile where he held the fort until the Oilers found a higher gear in the second period.

His 28 saves included a stop on all-alone Tanner Pearson going backhand-forehand in the second period, and back-to-back saves on Tomas Hertl and Victor Olofsson to extend overtime.

Pickard looked uncomfortable after a save just before Pietrangelo’s tying goal, but Edmonton’s goalie repelled all seven shots he faced in overtime.

“He’s been solid giving us a chance to win every game since he came in,” Oilers forward Zach Hyman said. “We needed a little bit more than other nights.”

Oilers forwards not named McDavid or Leon Draisaitl have combined for 22 goals in eight playoff games. Defencemen Darnell Nurse has chipped in a couple goals.

Defenceman Jake Walman collected the first NHL post-season goal of his career as did Vasily Podkolzin in Game 2. Edmonton’s fourth line of Podkolzin, Mattias Janmark and Viktor Arvidsson manufactured the first two goals of the game.

So Pickard and depth scoring helped keep the Oilers afloat in Game 2 until McDavid and Draisaitl weaved their magic in overtime. McDavid and Draisaitl had their hands on the same game-winning goal for the seventh time in the playoffs

"The team heavily relies on Connor and Leon and they’re special players and they are going to win us games but if you want to win a Stanley Cup you need everybody, you need everyone contributing and you don’t know who is going to be the hero on any given night," said Hyman.

--Donna Spencer

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2025.