Edmonton Oilers crush Golden Knights 5-1 in Las Vegas to level the second round series at one-each

Connor McDavid had two goals and an assist and Leon Draisaitl scored two goals as the Edmonton Oilers jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first period and to a 5-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of the Western Conference Second. Round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas.

Evan Bouchard had a goal and an assist, Zach Hyman had three assists and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added two assists for Edmonton, which recovered from its first regulation loss since March 11 in Game 1 on Wednesday to tie the series, 1-1. Game 3 is Monday night in Edmonton.

Stuart Skinner finished with 30 saves for the Oilers.

Ivan Barbashev scored for Vegas, which had snapped a five-game winning streak. Laurent Brossoit stopped 27 of 32 shots before being pulled after two periods. Adin Hill rounded out and made four saves.

Draisaitl, the first Edmonton player to score four goals in a playoff game since Hall of Famer Jari Kurri did so in 1987 in Wednesday’s 6-4 loss, became the fifth player in NHL history to score five consecutive team goals in a postseason when he gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 2:21 of the first period.

In the end, the Oilers won Saturday night’s game 5-1 against the LV Golden Knights

McDavid deflected a punt shot from Bouchard that bounced off Brossoit to the left side of the crease where Draisaitl slid into the rebound.

Bouchard made it 2-0 with another power play goal with a slack shot from above the right circle past a Hyman screen for his third goal of the playoffs.

McDavid increased the lead to 3-0 at 11:11 with a low-handed goal, stealing Shea Theodore’s puck at the blue line and then racing down the right wing before cutting in front of the net and a one- slid. armed shot through Brossoit’s pads.

The victorious Oilers were supported by 30 saves from their star goaltender, Stuart Skinner

Draisaitl scored his sixth goal in four periods to make it 4-0 when he put a rebound off a Kailer Yamamoto shot into the left side of the net. It was Draisaitl’s 13th goal in an eight-game spell in the playoffs, the first since Kurri did it in 1985.

Vegas, outshot 19-4 in the opening period, showed some signs of life early in the second period as defenseman Brayden McNabb plundered a shot from the crossbar high slot and Chandler Stephenson got loose on a breakaway that Skinner stopped with a toad- save .

McDavid then made it 5–0 midway through the period with his 26th career playoff goal on the power play, a shot from a bad angle from just above the left goal line that blasted off Brossoit’s right path and into the near post.

The Golden Knights cut it to 5-1 at 1:36 of the third period when Barbashev hit a Mark Stone pass into the crease under the crossbar for his fourth goal of the playoffs.