PREVIEW: Oilers at Canucks (Game 5)

The Oilers and Canucks return to Vancouver for Game 5 on Thursday night at Rogers Arena with their second-round series tied at two games apiece.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet & Hockey Night in Canada at 8:00 p.m. MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.

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PREVIEW: Oilers at Canucks (Game 5)

VANCOUVER, BC – The Edmonton Oilers look to build off their late-game heroics in Game 4 two nights ago and take the lead on the Vancouver Canucks in their second-round series when they return to the West Coast to wage Game 5 at Rogers Arena on Thursday night.

“I think we've played pretty well this series. I think we've liked the way that we've played. I think we've carried play for the majority of it,” Zach Hyman said after the team's arrival in Vancouver on Wednesday.

“When we get to our game, I think we have pretty good control. They're a resilient team. They've come back numerous times, so give them credit. They don't go away.

“We have to make sure that we play a full 60 throughout the game – no matter what the score is.”

The Oilers scored the game-winner with 38.1 seconds left in Game 4 on Tuesday on a wrist shot from Evan Bouchard that went under the right arm of Arturs Silovs for his fourth goal of the playoffs, marking the Oakville, Ont. product's NHL-leading 15th point among all defencemen in the post-season after the Canucks tied the game at six-on-five with 1:41 remaining.

Leon Draisaitl made the seam pass through the slot to Bouchard from behind the goal line to set up his defenceman for the game-winner, with the German’s assist making him the ninth player in NHL history to record 20+ points in a postseason (8G, 12A in 9 GP) as one of the game’s best playoff performers.

Draisaitl leads the League in post-season scoring with 20 points (8G, 12A) and power-play goals with six, along with recording a point in all nine games this postseason – five of which include multi-point games.

“It's quite remarkable,” Knoblauch said, describing the challenge of excelling in the postseason. “It's more difficult. The checking's tighter. There's less room, there's less space. It's just harder to perform, and here he is elevating his play even more. As good as he is during the regular season, he's even better in the playoffs.”

The work of Draisaitl’s linemates, Evander Kane and Dylan Holloway, was crucial to their side’s late game-winner, with Kane delivering a hard forecheck to win the puck and Dylan Holloway helping strip the puck again seconds later before Mattias Ekholm kept it in at the blueline to extend Edmonton’s game-winning shift.

Head Coach Kris Knoblauch picked out Holloway’s speed and tenacity as two aspects of his game that are helping him excel in a second-line role next to elite but also physical forwards in Draisaitl and Kane, which bodes well for the Calgary product’s chance of sticking in the top-six position.

“We sent him down to play in the American League in the middle of January to get his confidence back from an injury, find his game and actually audition to play some center,” Knoblauch said. “When he came back, we weren't sure if he was going to play center, left wing or right wing, but I think that experience was good for him.

"Since he's come back, he's just really impressed. He's played really well for us.”

Netminder Calvin Pickard received his first-career playoff start and made 19 saves on 21 shots, providing steady goaltending for the Oilers to pick up his first playoff win after having done just that for the Blue & Orange during the regular season.

For Knoblauch, it was as easy as looking at Pickard's regular-season record and what he was able to do with limited opportunities, including going long stretches without action but being able to come up with the necessary saves when called upon.

“It looks like a great decision when the player comes out and performs,” Knoblauch said, “But the only reason why I felt confident going into that was Calvin's body of work through the season."

Pickard assembled 12-7-0 record with a .909 save percentage and 2.45 goals-against average this season after being called up from the Bakersfield Condors on Nov. 8 to replace Jack Campbell, who struggled early in his second season as an Oiler.

Knoblauch made the difficult decision to go to Pickard for Game 4 instead of Skinner after Edmonton’s starting goalie was tagged for 12 combined goals over the first three games of the series.

Knoblauch and his coaching staff hadn’t made the decision on who will start Game 5 by the time the team touched down in Vancouver on Wednesday afternoon, saying the final call will be made prior to the pre-game skate on Thursday.

“There's a lot of things that go into allowing me to make that decision,” he said. “Talking to a lot of people on staff and getting a feel from the players but mostly the assistant coaches, (general manager) Ken Holland, just everybody within the organization, trying to have it in perspective and gather as much information as I can and then we move on. Calvin came out and played really well."