Oilers eliminate Golden Knights with a defensive masterclass and an unsung hero

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LAS VEGAS — The Edmonton Oilers have shown throughout these playoffs that they can win in a variety of ways. High scoring? Check. Comebacks? Absolutely. Top-to-bottom domination? For sure.

How they won Wednesday to close out the Vegas Golden Knights, though, was perhaps the most unique of all — and that only adds more hope for their Stanley Cup aspirations.

Kasperi Kapanen, playing just his second game of the playoffs, broke a goal-less tie by scoring on a scramble 7:19 into overtime. Kapanen’s tally secured a 1-0 victory and the Oilers’ second straight trip to the Western Conference final and third in the last four years.

They improved to 7-0 in close-out opportunities in Games 5 or 6 in the Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl era.

A combination of unsung heroics and another buttoned-down defensive effort proved to be their latest winning formula.

“I’m very happy with the way everybody’s contributed,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Hopefully we’re only halfway through this. We’re going to need contributions from everybody again.”

Kapanen jammed in a loose puck in the Golden Knights’ crease for his second career overtime NHL playoff goal, his first since a double-overtime marker in 2017 when he was a Toronto Maple Leaf. He was an AHLer for most of that season, so he was a surprising goal scorer even then, but at least he had become a regular by the playoffs.

That wasn’t the case with the Oilers until the start of the week. Kapanen went from being a mainstay in the lineup after he was claimed off waivers in November to being squeezed once the playoffs began and the cavalry of injured players returned. Trent Frederic re-entering the fray made Kapanen a scratch for Game 1 against the Los Angeles Kings, which continued for nine games.

“There are so many good players on this team that I understood when Knobber told me that I wasn’t going to start playing against L.A.,” Kapanen said. “I knew eventually I’d probably get a chance. Just being patient and being ready.”

It took until a last-second loss in Game 3 against the Golden Knights for Kapanen to get his shot. Knoblauch valued Kapanen’s speed and physicality and swapped him in for veteran Viktor Arvidsson.

Kapanen was a force in his Oilers debut on Monday, throwing five hits in 14:21 and playing alongside Draisaitl and Vasily Podkolzin in a shut-down role against Golden Knights star Jack Eichel. He padded his resume with the winning goal on Wednesday.

With that, he became the 16th different Oiler to score in these playoffs.

“We’re as deep a team as I’ve played on,” defenceman Darnell Nurse said. “You go throughout the lineup, guys can score, guys can check. There’s a commitment to playing the right way.”

Kapanen’s goal will get the headlines, but this game was yet again about how well they defended.

The Oilers blanked the Golden Knights in consecutive games to knock them out of the playoffs and get their revenge for the 2023 second-round loss.

They made for another relatively light workload for goalie Stuart Skinner, who’s back in full control of the No. 1 role after an injury to Calvin Pickard.

“So much has to do with how the guys are playing in front of me,” Skinner said. “The way that they’ve played since I’ve come back in is impressive.”

Skinner did his part, too. He followed up a 23-save performance in Game 4 by stopping all 24 shots he faced in the series capper.

“He’s got to be feeling good,” Nurse said. “There’s not much better than quieting all the people when they’re talking crap about you. He showed up. We don’t win this series if he doesn’t play the way that he does.”

“Hopefully it shuts a lot of people up who were talking about him,” McDavid said. “We’ve always had belief in him. He comes in and pitches two shutouts. You can’t say enough good things.”

The Oilers have now won eight of 11 games in the playoffs and all but one of their last nine after dropping the first two contests of their first-round series in Los Angeles.

There have been a few superb defensive efforts in the lot: Game 5 against the Kings, plus three of the five games in this series.

Injured defenceman Mattias Ekholm has repeatedly preached the importance of being content and confident, withstanding sustained offensive forays from opponents. It seems as if the Oilers have now reached that point.

“It’s been a process to get to where we are today, and I truly believe we took another step tonight,” Skinner said.

They’ve appeared increasingly more comfortable playing without the puck since Knoblauch took over behind the bench in November 2023. The end of this series, and specifically Game 5, feels like their zenith.

“We can defend,” McDavid said. “We’ve shown it time and time again. Coming into a tough building and winning a 1-0 game when it matters most. We can play that way.”

The Oilers allowed just 10 goals from the Golden Knights over the five games.

“It came down to defending,” Nurse said. “If we want to have any success, it starts with defending, and the offence will come off that. We were more conscious and did a better job of that in this series.”

With the roster rounding into form and the play around their goalies tightening up, the Oilers look like a juggernaut after their early scare against the Kings.

They stormed back following a pair of wins at home using their trademark offensive firepower. They’ve continued to prove over and over that they’re never out of a game thanks to their penchant for comeback wins. They’ve gotten significant contributions from just about every member of the team, which has now extended to extras Kapanen and Troy Stecher.

There remain things to address, of course. The power play hasn’t scored on 14 road chances through six games after an 0-for-2 showing on Wednesday. There wasn’t much happening on those man advantages, either.

That’s a minor quibble right now.

The Oilers are proving they can win without otherworldly performances from their two superstars, McDavid and Draisaitl. Both players had six points in the series, and McDavid had his eight-game point streak snapped on Wednesday.

A defensive masterclass and a pivotal goal from a player recently considered an afterthought is far away from Nos. 97 and 29 scoring jaw-dropping goals. But it’s all amounted to another distinctive win for the Oilers, who just might be a more complete team than they were a year ago.

“We definitely have the pieces,” Nurse said. “Now, it’s just continuing to hammer away. With two series left, we’re far from a finished product.”

This news was originally published on this post .

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