Oilers prove defensive prowess with 2 straight shutouts against Golden Knights to close out West 2nd Round 

LAS VEGAS -- Connor McDavid made sure to hammer the point home after the Edmonton Oilers advanced to the Western Conference Final for the third time in four seasons Wednesday.

On a team loaded with offensive talent, Hart Trophy winners, 100-point players and 50-goal scorers, Edmonton can play a stifling defensive game when necessary.

The Oilers demonstrated it again in a 1-0 overtime win against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Western Conference Second Round here at T-Mobile Arena to close out the best-of-7 series.

“We can defend, we can, we’ve shown that time and time again,” McDavid said. “We came into a tough building and won a 1-0 game and that’s what matters most. We can play that way, we can score goals, whatever it takes, we can win games.”

Forward Kasperi Kapanen settled the tight-checking game at 7:19 of overtime, jamming in a rebound on a scramble in front past Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill. Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner made 24 saves for his second consecutive shutout.

“I said this last year during the run in the playoffs and this year too, I don’t think our guys get enough credit on how we can defend,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We can make some plays and we don’t give up very much. I saw it in the series, there wasn’t many scoring chances, especially tonight.

“I thought our guys did a pretty good job limiting (scoring chances) for them. Usually for them to get the puck to the net and for us too, there were usually many layers to get through to get to the net, and it wasn’t easy.”

It has been a work in progress for Edmonton with McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who are better known for their offensive prowess and probably not given enough credit for awareness on the defensive end.

Yet starting with the two, the Oilers embraced the concept of defense winning championships and came within a game of winning the Stanley Cup last season.

The defense-first approach got Edmonton past the Los Angeles Kings in the first round and now Vegas in the second, two teams who finished higher in the Pacific Division this season.

Edmonton will face either the Dallas Stars or the Winnipeg Jets in the next round. Dallas leads the best-of-7 series 3-1.

“We’ve been getting better and better at that every single game, we really believe that,” Skinner said. “It’s been a process for us to get to where we are today, and I truly believe we took another step even tonight. It shows a lot of character in the room.”

Edmonton locked things down Wednesday looking to put the Golden Knights away.

The Oilers have now won eight of nine games when presented with a chance to close out the series in the past three seasons. Their only loss came in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Florida Panthers last season.

Edmonton has won all seven games with an opportunity to close out a series in Games 5 or 6 since Draisaitl and McDavid joined the team in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

They find ways to win.

“We win games with Leon and Connor leading the way, that’s an absolute given, and we’ve won some games where our goalie outperformed the other goalies, we were able to win those types,” Knoblauch said. “Then there are those types where our depth guys came through and scored some big goals. I’m very happy with the way everybody contributed and hopefully we’re only halfway through this and we’re going to need contributions from everybody again.”

It continues to be a process for the Oilers, who have grown through the experience of 12 playoff series since 2021.

“If you want to have success in this league and you get outside of the regular season and get more and more playoff experience, you don’t win in the playoff unless you defend,” Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse said. “You may be able to outscore your mistakes in one or two games in a whole run, but you’re not going to be able to do that on a nightly basis. For our group, the more we’ve gotten through that, the more we’ve recognized that.”

Edmonton limited Vegas to 13 shots over two periods in Game 5 and then withstood a push late in the second period and into the third against a desperate team.

“It was just a grind of a game, that’s playoff hockey,” Skinner said. “Especially in the scenario they were in, they’re fighting for their lives and we’re trying to get something going. Lots of dump-ins. They’re stifling defensively and we are too.”

When the chances did come for the Golden Knights, Skinner was there for the Oilers. He had a rough start to the playoffs, giving up 11 goals in his first two games against Los Angeles and then losing the net to Calvin Pickard.

It’s Skinner’s net again moving forward as Pickard is still recovering from a lower-body injury sustained in a 5-4 overtime win in Game 2 against Vegas.

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