Oilers keep calm despite G1 collapse to Canucks
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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter
VANCOUVER — There were questions, and the Edmonton Oilers certainly had answers about how they lost a three-goal lead in Wednesday night’s 5-4 loss to the Vancouver Canucks in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
Especially when the Oilers’ latest loss dropped them to 0-5 against the Canucks in the regular season and the playoffs combined. Even while facing questions about what went wrong, the Oilers remained steadfast about their Game 1 performance and why the series is far from over after just one game.
“I thought we gave them this one, and I think we know that it’s going to be a long series,” Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner said. “That’s how the playoffs are — you got to win four in order to keep it going. They’re up one right now, and we know that we can beat these guys. They beat us five games this year, but that gives us a lot of fire for ourselves to try to come back and get back in the series right away.”
Edmonton took a 2-0 lead on a pair of first-period goals from Zach Hyman and Mattias Ekholm. The Canucks cut the lead in half in the second period when Dakota Joshua scored 53 seconds into the frame, only to see Cody Ceci and Hyman push the lead to 4-1 with 6:49 remaining in the second.
So how did the Oilers go from having a firm lead to eventually losing their grip?
Canucks center Elias Lindholm was at the goal line when he flicked a puck on net that appeared to have been deflected as it slipped beyond Skinner, making the score 4-2 with 2:59 left in the second.
With a little more than 10 minutes left in the third period, Canucks forward Brock Boeser played a pass to J.T. Miller that saw the puck go off his stick and past Skinner to cut the lead to 4-3.
Four minutes later, Canucks forward Teddy Blueger played a back pass to Nikita Zadorov, with the hulking defenseman launching a slap shot that beat Skinner to tie the score at 4-4 with 6:13 left.
Then came the goal that allowed the Canucks to complete the comeback, causing Rogers Arena to go from library quiet to deafeningly loud.
Vancouver had just won a faceoff in its own zone when Zadorov played an outlet pass from behind the net to Joshua. He held the puck for less than two seconds at center ice, which freed Conor Garland to fake a shot before firing an actual attempt a second later that sailed past Skinner for a 5-4 lead with 5:35 remaining.
Garland’s goal also underlined how the Canucks, after struggling to find their footing, outshot the Oilers 19-7 between the second and third periods.
“It’s something we’ll have to learn from a little bit,” Ekholm said. “When they score, it’s all about that next shift. They’re going to score. It’s not like we’re going to keep them to nothing. At the end of the day, we let them get three goals and put ourselves in a tough spot. Up until that point, we were in a really great spot, but we kind of gave it away, so that’s the disappointing part.”
Ekholm also said he thought quite a few of the Canucks’ goals were not due to the Oilers having a breakdown in their system. Natural Stat Trick’s metrics showed that while the Canucks had 10 high-danger chances, they had only one in 5-on-5 play in the third period while having a shot share of 42.1%.
Oilers star center and captain Connor McDavid echoed that sentiment.
“I thought they were strange goals all around,” McDavid said. “We’ve scored some strange ones, too. In kind of a frantic game, you’re going to get that. Definitely some weird ones, some preventable ones, too. Overall, I didn’t mind our game.”
Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said his team was a little too passive.
But did Knoblauch agree with his players that the system worked but didn’t get the desired results?
“There’s always things you can adjust,” Knoblauch said. “There’s going to be mistakes. … The players have to read and react. I thought they were in pretty good positions, and we didn’t have any major breakdowns.”
BOSTON — Rafael Devers had a career-high eight RBIs, hitting a three-run homer in the sixth inning and a grand slam in a 13-run eighth, to lead the Boston Red Sox over the Baltimore Orioles 19-5 on Friday in the opener of what was supposed to be a day-night doubleheader.
Boston trailed 2-1 entering the sixth, when Ceddanne Rafaela hit an RBI single off Seranthony Dominguez (2-1), Jarren Duran had an RBI single against Gregory Soto and Devers followed with his fifth homer in 10 career at-bats against Soto.
Devers had four hits and leads the major leagues with 47 RBIs. He hit his seventh career slam and his second in a six-day span, his 12th homer this season. The drive came off rookie infielder Emmanuel Rivera, who gave up eight runs and got three outs, leaving him with a 72.00 ERA. Devers hit an RBI single earlier in the inning against Cionel Pérez.
“Everybody is surprised about what he’s doing, but that’s who he is,” said Red Sox starter Brayan Bello, according to MLB.com. “Everybody was also surprised he got off to a slow start in the first five or six games, but we know the type of hitter that he is, the type of player that he is and the numbers he can put up.”
Boston scored its most runs since a 20-8 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 11, 2021, and finished with 20 hits.
Its 13 runs in the eighth inning are the franchise’s second most in an inning over the past 50 seasons (14 on June 27, 2003, against the Marlins). They were also the most runs by any team in the eighth inning or later since the New York Yankees on June 21, 2005, against the Tampa Bay Rays (also 13).
Baltimore has lost nine of 10 and and 15 of 18, dropping to 16-33. The Orioles are 1-5 since manager Brandon Hyde was fired and replaced on an interim basis by third-base coach Tony Mansolino.
Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman left because of right quadriceps tightness after singling in the fifth inning.
Rob Refsnyder had four RBIs, including a three-run homer in the eighth off Pérez. Duran had three RBIs.
The Red Sox had eight players score multiple runs, one shy of tying the franchise record.
Garrett Whitlock (3-0) allowed one hit in two scoreless innings.
Game 2 of the scheduled doubleheader was postponed later Friday because of rain. The teams will play a split doubleheader Saturday (1:05 p.m., 6:35 p.m.).
Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.
NEW YORK — Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to face hitters Saturday for the first time in his recovery from right elbow surgery.
The two-way superstar will throw live batting practice at Citi Field before the Los Angeles Dodgers play the New York Mets, manager Dave Roberts announced Friday.
It’s the next step for Ohtani as he works toward returning to the mound. He had right elbow surgery Sept. 19, 2023, and hasn’t pitched in a major league game since Aug. 23 that year for the Los Angeles Angels.
There is no target date for his pitching debut with the Dodgers, though expectations are that it could come in July.
Roberts said he wasn’t sure how many pitches Ohtani will throw Saturday or which Dodger teammates he will face.
The right-hander mixed in breaking pitches during a throwing session Tuesday for the first time in his rehabilitation program. Before that, he had been limited to fastballs and splitters.
Ohtani threw a 50-pitch bullpen last Saturday, increasing from 35 pitches in his previous session.
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