Skinner makes 23 saves for Edmonton, which moves within 1 win of Western Final
Golden Knights at Oilers | Recap | Round 2, Game 4
EDMONTON — Adam Henrique scored twice in the first period, and Stuart Skinner made 23 saves for the Edmonton Oilers in a 3-0 win against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4 of the Western Conference Second Round at Rogers Place on Monday.
“It felt great. All I can really say is thanks to the guys playing in front of me. They were amazing tonight and made my job easier,” Skinner said. “They were battling and blocked a lot of shots. The way we played defensively was superb. A lot of credit to the guys.
“You could just sense the energy. There was a lot going on, fighting and a lot of pushing around. A lot of momentum back and forth. In moments like that you’ve just got to focus your mind and do your job. I felt like all of us as a team really did that in those types of moments.”
It was the first win this postseason for Skinner, who had allowed 15 goals in his first three starts.
“He made huge saves when we needed them,” Henrique said. “You could see the last game, the confidence with him is there. He was playing the puck, hung on to it for about 10, 15 seconds. It was great to see him get rewarded with a shutout tonight.”
VGK@EDM, Gm4: Henrique buries the backdoor feed from Brown to get things started
Evander Kane had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who are the No. 3 seed from the Pacific Division.
Adin Hill made 29 saves for the Golden Knights, who are the No. 1 seed from the Pacific.
“They got an early lead and they’ve been here before. You’ve got to manage the game if you do that, and they did a good job of it,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We had some looks but we were kind of one and done. Not a lot of second chances, second-effort plays for us.
“We need to do a better job getting through the neutral zone, breaking them down if we’re going to get some looks off the rush. At times, we got a few. Not enough. We put ourselves behind the eight ball again early in the game.”
The Oilers lead the best-of-7 series 3-1. Game 5 will be at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).
“It’s do or die now,” Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel said.
Henrique put the Oilers ahead 1-0 at 1:27 of the first period. Connor Brown stole the puck from Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud behind the net and passed out into the low slot, where Henrique roofed a shot over Hill’s glove.
Henrique then made it 2-0 at 13:03. He took a backhand pass from Zach Hyman, who was below the goal line, moved the puck to his forehand and lifted a shot under Hill’s blocker arm from near the right post.
VGK@EDM, Gm4: Henrique directs the puck through his own legs and in for his second
Edmonton outshot Vegas 15-5 in the first period.
“They came out in the first, obviously, had a hard push,” Eichel said. “Give us credit though, we stood up to them. You get behind and we obviously weren’t able to solve the goaltender.
“We’ve just got to be cleaner on our breakouts and just better execution, I think.”
Kane extended the lead to 3-0 at 7:38 of the second period, skating in on a 2-on-1 rush and scoring five-hole on Hill with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle. Connor McDavid had the primary assist on the play to extend his playoff point streak to eight games (two goals, 11 assists).
“I’ve played against them lots in the playoffs, they’re a good hockey team,” Kane said. “Back in San Jose, we had a big rivalry, so that’s somehow kind of carried on to Edmonton now.
“They’re a tough opponent and they play hard, and you have to play hard.”
NOTES: McDavid is the fourth player in Oilers history to have a point streak in the playoffs of at least eight games, joining Leon Draisaitl (nine games in 2022), Glenn Anderson (nine games in 1985), and Wayne Gretzky (eight games in 1983). … Oilers forward Corey Perry played in his 225th playoff game, tying Anderson for eighth in League history.
