Going up 2-0 to start a series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is no easy feat — just ask the Edmonton Oilers.
This second-round bout with the Vegas Golden Knights saw them do just that, but it was only the second time this core had done so in any of the previous 14 series they’ve played. Getting those pair of early wins, especially on the road as the Oilers did, does wonders for a team’s chance at winning
Seven sharp periods on the road saw Edmonton steal the first two games of the series, and they came 0.4 seconds away from having a chance to extend it to 3-0 on Saturday night. That’s playoff hockey, baby.
But the Oilers couldn’t afford to let the Golden Knights even up this series before heading back to Nevada, and they were on a mission early on in this game. The second most ready player on the Oilers to act on that mission was Adam Henrique, who scored a pair of goals in the first period to build a lead they would never look back on in their 3-0 win.
There may not have been a person more ready to step up to the plate than Adam Henrique, who’s two first-period markers served critically in the Oilers’ 3-0 win. Both goals saw him get to the dirty area, first capitalizing on a great feed from Connor Brown, and the second cleaning up a loose puck with a between-the-legs goal, celebrating with a knee slide like Nail Yakupov.
The player who was most ready to step up? Stuart Skinner, thrust back into the lineup for a second straight game, turned aside each of the 23 shots he faced.
After the game, you could see the weight lifted for him, keeping things light when asked how he deals with all the outside noise in a market like Edmonton.
“What outside noise? I have no idea, no clue what’s going on.”
That’s Skinner for you, and even after that, when asked about where he feels his own game was at tonight, he kept that same energy up.
“With the game of hockey, there’s so many things that can happen. That’s just professional sports, especially in my position,” he said, adding with a laugh, “for me, I decided to play this position, so it’s completely my fault.
“I’ve been in situations like this many times before, I’m going to be in them again, so you can’t really tell the future. Again, it’s kind of what I was saying before, just sticking to my process, playing my game and doing my best out there.”
Henrique and Skinner’s strong games weren’t the only big talking points, as Evander Kane contributed to make his impact on this series, scoring a goal of his own and assisting on Henrique’s second. He was all over the ice, laying hits left right and centre, and getting in the crease of Adin Hill, which certainly got him off his game early.
All those frustrations boiled over when Trent Frederic and Nic Hague fought, marking the first time this postseason fighting majors had been handed out.
“I think we take pride and we know it’s tough to get to Vegas’ net,” said Kane. “They have two d-men there who kind of just stand there the entire time, so it’s hard to get inside and you have to battle to do that.
“I don’t know if we were purposefully trying to get in his head or get to him, but he seemed to be taking some slashes against us. It’s tough to avoid contact when you’re getting cross-checked into him. We want to go there hard and play within the rules and not have goals disallowed, so that’s important.”
Now, the Oilers will head to Vegas looking to close this series in five games Wednesday night.
