Rookie Silovs slows Oilers as Canucks hold on
Vancouver rookie goalie Arturs Silovs is already earning a reputation for stepping up in big moments.
Silovs stopped 42 shots, Brock Boeser had two goals and an assist, and Elias Lindholm also scored twice as the Canucks held on to beat the host Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Sunday night to take a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.
“The kid has given us game,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said of the goalie. “It’s a big stage and he’s not blinking. He’s coming in every day and he’s working hard.”
Quinn Hughes and J.T. Miller each had two assists for the Canucks.
“I just felt confident,” Silovs said. “So I had to have them today. Everyone’s resilient, blocking shots. Really high scoring chances they had and our guys managed to block a lot of them. So credit to them, too.”
Vancouver took a 2-1 lead midway through the first after the Oilers left Boeser wide open in the faceoff circle. Miller sent him a pass and Boeser ripped a shot past Skinner with 6:42 to go in the period.
Boeser boosted the Canucks’ lead to 3-1 just over five minutes later. Her picked the puck off Warren Foegele near the boards, took a couple of strides toward the net and buried his second goal of the night and seventh of the playoffs.
The Canucks regained the two-goal advantage with 2:25 remaining in the middle period. Miller blasted a long shot toward the Oilers’ net and Lindholm picked it up, kicking the puck to his stick at the bottom of the slot, then shoveling a backhanded shot into the Edmonton net.
On Monday, Vancouver defenseman Carson Soucy was suspended one game for a cross-check on Edmonton superstar Connor McDavid.
A skirmish began after the final buzzer sounded Sunday. Soucy shoved McDavid behind the Canucks’ net and McDavid responded by hitting Soucy’s leg with his stick.
Canucks defenseman Nikita Zadorov then crosschecked McDavid from behind, and Soucy crosschecked the Oilers captain in the face as he was falling.
Florida 3, at Boston 2: Aleksander Barkov slipped through three defenders to score the go-ahead goal, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 16 shots to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead over the Bruins in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Sam Bennett and Anton Lundell also scored for the Panthers, who scored three times in a row to rally from a two-goal deficit.
Playing without captain and leading scorer in the postseason Brad Marchand, Boston jumped to a 2-0 lead with goals from David Pastrnak and Brandon Carlo. Jeremy Swayman made 39 saves for the Bruins.