GAME RECAP: Canucks 3, Oilers 2 - OT (Preseason)

VANCOUVER, BC – Preseason over(time).

Conor Garland notched the game-winner 1:30 into overtime as the Edmonton Oilers closed out their pre-season schedule with a 3-2 overtime defeat to the Vancouver Canucks on Friday at Rogers Arena.

Kasperi Kapanen equalized for the Oilers in the second period before Leon Draisaitl converted on the power play three minutes later to give Edmonton a 2-1 advantage after Canucks' rookie Jonathan Lekkerimäki gave the hosts the 1-0 lead in the dying seconds of the opening frame.

Lekkerimäki tied things up again at 5:58 of the third period with a one-timer on the power play for his second goal of the game, and Garland finished things off for the Canucks a minute-and-a-half into overtime to close out the victory and Edmonton's preseason, which ends with a 4-2-2 record.

"When things go so well in the second period that you get away from simplifying things and making the extra pass or the extra move, then you end up turning the puck over and you're in trouble," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "It's the last exhibition, so fortunately, we can get to the regular season and the intensity should ramp up."

The points will start to matter for the Oilers on Wednesday when they begin the regular season at Rogers Place against the Calgary Flames.

"I'm looking forward to it," forward David Tomasek said. "It was obviously a long preseason, but I'm happy I got those games. I needed that, and I thought today was another decent performance. I'm trying to get better each game and just improve and get used to everything, but you need games to improve and I'll just keep on working.

"I think everyone's excited about Wednesday."

FIRST PERIOD

Both the Oilers and Canucks had a single opportunity with the man advantage during the opening frame that was scoreless until the final 10 seconds of the period, when the hosts broke the deadlock just moments after Kasperi Kapanen exited the box to get us back to even strength.

The Oilers defended strongly in the first period where they were outshot 10-7 by the Canucks, with defenceman Brett Kulak showing his poise from the backend by shutting down a pair of back-to-back chances for the hosts midway through the frame.

The Stony Plain product tracked down Elias Pettersson when he found a lane through the middle off the rush to split the defence before he shut down Jake DeBrusk's hard cut to the net on the same shift after the Oilers committed a turnover just inside the Canucks' blueline to help keep scoring chances at a premium early in this final pre-season contest.

Goaltender Calvin Pickard also stood his ground on Pettersson after the Swedish forward teed up a heavy slap shot from the top of the circle on a two-on-one opportunity alongside former Oilers' winger Evander Kane, who was traded to Vancouver this offseason.

The 32-year-old was given the start tonight after netminder Stuart Skinner was scratched before the team's flight to Vancouver because of illness, with Matt Tomkins being recalled from Bakersfield in the morning to back him up.

The Oilers earned the game's first power play inside the period's six-minute mark when McDavid was tripped by Kiefer Sherwood near the bench inside the Canucks' zone. Along with Evan Bouchard, McDavid set up David Tomasek in front of the Vancouver crease for a net-front deflection that challenged netminder Thatcher Demko, but didn't result in the visitors finding the breakthrough on their first man advantage.

Tomasek has shown himself to be a capable net-front option on Edmonton's historically dominant power play, and more chances and conversations with his linemates on that top unit has resulted in the Czech forward looking more and more confortable with each opportunity.

"Just trying to ask what the guys need and work with the coaches. Try to be available," Tomasek said post-game. "I just got a little bit unlucky in that first period. I think that the first tip just went right into his glove, so that's what happens and hopefully, it comes when it's more important. But it's been good.

"We got some reps there, especially for me in that position, and I'm happy that we were able to score one in the second. There was a different setup there and it looked pretty good, so just keep working on it and whatever the coaches decide, just go with that."

The Canucks didn't score on their opening man advantage with Kapanen serving an interference penalty late in the frame, but you could probably give them credit for winger Jonathan Lekkerimäki firing them into a 1-0 advantage mere moments after the Oilers returned to even strength.

Defenceman Mattias Ekholm couldn't control a rimmed puck around the boards into Edmonton's zone in the dying seconds of Kapanen's infraction, which led to a fight for the puck in the right circle that produced an opening for Lekkerimäki on the far side to take a pass from Braeden Cootes that he ripped top shelf on Pickard with 10 seconds left in the frame.

SECOND PERIOD

That's the kind of response you want to see from the Oilers – and their power play – at this late stage of the preseason.

After falling behind to the Canucks late in the opening frame, the Oilers came out of the intermission with a concerted effort to turn things around, and did so brilliantly with goals from Kasperi Kapanen and Leon Draisaitl exactly three minutes apart in the final 10 minutes of the second period.

At 13:40 of the middle frame, the Oilers found themselves on a four-on-two rush up the ice off a turnover committed by the Canucks in the offensive zone, leaving the puck to Kapanen to begin the rush up ice before he moved it over to Tomasek and received the return pass at the top of the right circle for a one-timer that he powered over the right pad of Demko.

The Oilers found themselves on the power play less than two minutes later with defenceman Tom Willander was called for holding centre Noah Philp, and their top power-play unit of McDavid, Draisaitl, Tomasek, Bouchard and Nugent-Hopkins was able to convert on their second try to put their team ahead.

"I thought the power play looked really good," Knoblauch said. "The first power play in the first period, we had some good looks and some chances didn't go in. Then obviously in the second period, they made a couple of nice plays which led to the goal. So it's nice for them to get some movement and some practice together, because our team relies on our power play to score some key goals."

McDavid rounded the right circle and dished a backhand pass to Bouchard, who let fly a heavy wrist shot that Demko could only blocker aside before it fell to the stick of Leon Draisaitl near the right face-off dot for the German to put away the rebound five-hole on the sliding Canucks' netminder.

You can expect to see a lot of that power-play combination on the scoresheet for the Oilers this season after Bouchard and McDavid picked up the helpers on Draisaitl's go-ahead tally that lifted his side into a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.

THIRD PERIOD

Bouchard struck the crossbar at the other end before Ekholm was called for a soft holding penalty on Pettersson five minutes into the third period, resulting in the Canucks equalizing on the ensuing power play and ultimately forcing overtime on Friday night.

Lekkerimäki received a cross-ice feed from Canucks' captain Quinn Hughes in the left circle and snuck his one-timer short side on Pickard to make it 2-2 with 5:58 gone in the final stanza. The Vancouver rookie was responsible for both of his team's goals in regulation and had a chance to load up on an extended five-on-three for the hosts before the end of regulation.

Andrew Mangiapane was called for roughing before an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty assessed to Draisaitl for removing the helmet of Pettersson just 14 seconds into the penalty kill set up an extended two-man advantage for the Canucks, but Evander Kane made it five-on-four less than 30 seconds in by tripping Ty Emberson.

Pickward was outstanding on the penalty kill, making four saves on the extended power play, which included a top-notch save against Brock Boeser on a one-timer from the slot. The Oilers escaped harm to send us to overtime, but Coach Knoblauch said they reverted back to a little bit of the sloppiness they showed in the opening frame.

"I think in the first period, we were a little sleepy and didn't execute very well," he said. "Maybe later in the period, I thought we started playing better. Second period, I thought it was our best period. In the third period, it was back to being sloppy and giving up the puck too much, especially in the offensive zone just inside the blueline. We really fed their transition, and then we have to defend.

"Fortunately for us, Picks had an outstanding third period, making some really nice saves on the penalty kill and five-on-five to allow it to go into extra time."

OVERTIME

A minute-and-a-half into sudden death, it was forward Conor Garland who weaved his way through the Oilers' zone and slid the game-winning goal under Pickard to give the Canucks the victory.

The Oilers closed out the preseason with a 4-2-2 record and will rematch the Canucks in eight days' time on Oct. 11 at Rogers Place, but not before they open their regular-season schedule with a home date against their rivals the Calgary Flames this coming Wednesday.