Stuart Skinner allowed four goals on 15 shots before being replaced by Calvin Pickard, who made three saves.
“We need more saves. Tonight, obviously I felt like that with 'Picks' going in in the third period,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Tonight’s one that he would like to have back, and we’ll see what he’s got in the future, whether that’s Game 4 or Game 5 or whatever it is. But we’ll be seeing 'Stu' again, and I have no doubt that he’ll respond and play well.”
Ekholm gave Edmonton a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 5:37 of the first period. Evander Kane's initial shot deflected off the stick of Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers to Ekholm, who scored into an open net from the right circle.
Lindholm tied it 1-1 with his own power-play goal at 8:45, tipping in a wrist shot from Boeser after Derek Ryan failed to clear the zone.
“We didn’t want to defend that much,” Lindholm said. “In the first period, we played well, but when we get a lead like that, we were talking and we wanted to attack more. But that’s just the way this game went.
“I think everyone bought in and did their job and blocked shots and did whatever it took to win this game, so it was huge.”
Boeser gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead at 13:18. He was left all alone in the right circle and scored blocker side off a pass from Miller, who had drawn both Connor McDavid and Ekholm into the corner.
Boeser then made it 3-1 at 18:34. Pius Suter intercepted a backhand pass from Warren Foegele and fed Boeser, who scored glove side from the bottom of the left circle.