Adam Henrique had a pair of goals and Stuart Skinner made 24 saves as the Edmonton Oilers blanked the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 on Monday to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their second-round, best-of-seven NHL playoff series.
“I think everyone realized how important tonight’s game was and I believe everyone was dialed and really dug in,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game.
Evander Kane had a goal and an assist for the Oilers. Skinner was once again in net for Edmonton after replacing backup Calvin Pickard who had rattled off six consecutive wins before getting injured in Game 2. Skinner, who had a 5.36 goals against average coming into the game, improved to 1-3 in the post-season.
“The biggest thing is just trying to give your team a chance to win,” Skinner said after the game talking about his numbers this playoff run. “If you let in five and it’s a five five game going into OT you are giving your team a chance to win.”
Adin Hill made 29 stops in the loss for the Golden Knights who are now one game away from elimination.
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Edmonton got off to a quick start with a goal 1:27 into the opening period as Connor Brown stole a puck behind the net and sent it out front to Henrique in the slot and he blasted a one-timer past Hill for his second goal of the playoffs.
The Oilers took a two-goal lead with 6:57 left to play in the first as Zach Hyman wrestled a puck from behind the net to Henrique in front and he chipped in his second of the game, setting off a scrum after Kane bowled over Hill on the play.
Edmonton went up 3-0 just over seven minutes into the middle frame as Kane elected to shoot on a two-on-one and it hit a defender’s skate and deflected in for his fourth of the post-season. Connor McDavid picked up an assist to extend his points streak to a personal best eight games. Edmonton came into the game with a 14-2 record in the post-season when Kane scores.
There was no scoring in the third period.
NOTES
The Oilers have won all eight of their Game 4s since 2023. … It was Henrique’s first multi-goal playoff game since his rookie season in 2012. … Oilers veteran Corey Perry tied Glenn Anderson for the eighth-most playoff games played at 225. … Edmonton made a couple of substitutions for the contest with Kasperi Kapanen replacing Viktor Arvidsson at forward and Troy Stecher entering on defence for Ty Emberson. … Vegas forward Jack Eichel had his points streak halted at six games. … Edmonton allowed a goal with just 0.4 seconds left to lose 4-3 in Game 3. The five previous times where a team allowed a goal in the final three seconds, they all rebounded to win the next game of the series. The Oilers made it six.
UP NEXT
Game 5 takes place on Wednesday in Las Vegas.
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