In the second-round series, the Oilers defeated the Canucks 5-1 to force a decisive Game 7.

The Edmonton Oilers’ season wasn’t about to end. They are now pushing the envelope in their series against the Vancouver Canucks in the second round.

With three goals and two assists apiece from Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the Oilers defeated the Canucks 5-1 on Saturday night to avoid elimination and force a decisive Game 7.

>>> Read More: After defeating the Hurricanes, Kreider’s three-period hat trick propels the Rangers into the Eastern Conference Final.

Forward Dylan Holloway of Edmonton commented, “The boys were ready from the start; we obviously knew what was at stake tonight.” “We were a little nervous at first, but after we settled in, we played our game, rolled all four lines, and went there without looking back.”

The Oilers also had goals from Dylan Holloway, Zach Hyman, and Evander Kane, while Stuart Skinner made 14 saves.

McDavid stated, “We were better with the puck, better coming through the neutral zone, faster, cleaner.” “We performed a fantastic job of controlling them on the forecheck and preserving puck life.

We simply bought ourselves another day, so there’s nothing to be happy about or enthusiastic about. I would anticipate our group acting with the same haste and desperation. It should be an intensely contested, fantastic Game 7, and I would anticipate Vancouver to play a better game as well.

Vancouver, which is attempting to reach the Western Conference final for the first time since 2011, got a goal from Nils Hoglander. In the end, Arturs Silovs made 22 saves.

Canucks forward Brock Boeser stated, “We knew obviously this was going to be a difficult test to win tonight.” They undoubtedly scored a few goals that were awful and made us lose steam. I believe that this space embodies belief.

The winner of Game 7 on Monday night in Vancouver will play Dallas in the Western Conference final.

At 8:18 in the first period, Holloway scored Edmonton’s first goal of the playoffs after Leon Draisaitl supplied him the puck and he threaded it between the defence and tucked it between Silovs’ legs.

“What an amazing endeavor,” Hyman exclaimed. “It’s a big goal to settle the team down to get us up, but for a guy who came up really for the playoffs to do that, he’s had big moments here.”

This season, Draisaitl has accrued at least one point in each of the 11 postseason games.

The Canucks tied the game less than two minutes later when Hoglander scored his first playoff goal by slipping past Skinner shortly after Elias Pettersson’s behind-the-net assist.

With one second left in the first, Bouchard appeared to have given the Oilers the lead with a point shot, but McDavid’s unintentional contact with Silovs resulted in the goal being ruled out.

At 7:14 in the second, McDavid’s shot from the slot, which was his 10th of the playoffs, deflected and rebounded up and over Silovs into the Vancouver net, giving Edmonton a decisive lead. McDavid had only tallied one assist in his previous three games combined when he entered the game.

With 8:40 remaining in the second, Bouchard scored his fifth goal and 17th point of the playoffs on a long shot from the point, and McDavid picked up another assist. With his second assist, the captain of the Oilers became just the 10th player in NHL history to collect 20 playoff points in three straight seasons.

At 3:25 of the third period, McDavid received his third assist of the game when he backhanded pass to a charging Nugent-Hopkins, who scored his third goal of the playoffs, to put the Oilers ahead 4-1.

With less than seven minutes remaining, Kane’s vicious wrister, his fourth of the postseason, sealed the victory for Edmonton.

Boeser believes the Canucks will be able to bounce back in Game 7.

“It’s an opportunity for our group, but I’m not sure if it’s what you dream of as a kid,” he remarked. We all know that we can play better, of course. It will only depend on who wants it more in the following game once we recover and consider what we can do better.

After starting the previous two games in goal, Calvin Pickard was replaced by Skinner for the Oilers.

After Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, Draisaitl became the third player in league history to reach 100 points and only the fourth player in NHL history to score 60 assists in 60 playoff games.