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.”
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland board approved a $14.3 million contract on Wednesday to begin the demolition and rebuilding of Baltimore’s storied but antiquated Pimlico Race Course, home to the second jewel of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes.
The vote by the three-member Board of Public Works, which includes Gov. Wes Moore, was made 10 days before the 150th Preakness Stakes, which is scheduled for May 17. It will be the last time the annual horse race will be held with the existing structures in place before the track is rebuilt on the same site. The demolition will begin shortly after this year’s race.
“There cannot be a better time to announce the beginning of a transformation that will allow Pimlico to become a year-round hub for economic activity within the Park Heights community,” Moore said of the Baltimore neighborhood and longtime home of the race.
Under the plan, the Preakness will take place in Laurel Park, located just southwest of Baltimore, in 2026 while the new facility is built, before returning to Pimlico in time for the 2027 race.
Craig Thompson, the chair of the Maryland Stadium Authority which is overseeing the design of the new track, said the plan is to make Pimlico the home of Maryland thoroughbred racing. The track will go from hosting about 15 races a year to well over 100, Thompson said.
“This is more than just about a racetrack, as historic and important as it is,” Thompson said. “This is about bringing hundreds of millions of dollars in state investments to Park Heights.”
Thompson also shared a preview of the design plans. They include a new clubhouse with architecture inspired by the Rawlings Conservatory in Baltimore’s Druid Hill park and the original Pimlico Clubhouse, which included a colonnade and rooftop balconies, Thompson said.
Last year, the board approved a deal to transfer ownership of Pimlico from The Stronach Group to the State of Maryland in order to ensure the Preakness remains in Baltimore.
The state has been wrestling with what to do to restore the old racetrack for decades. Aptly nicknamed Old Hilltop, the track opened in 1870. It’s where Man o’ War, Seabiscuit, Secretariat and many others pranced to the winner’s circle.
But its age has long been a concern. In 2019, the Maryland Jockey Club closed off nearly 7,000 grandstand seats, citing the “safety and security of all guests and employees.”
The horse racing industry and other equine industries have been a cornerstone of Maryland agriculture, as well as an integral part of preserving green space.
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