May 7, 2025 by Ryan Lotsberg

The Edmonton Oilers and the Vegas Golden Knights go their second round series underway on Tuesday night. Once again, the Oilers fell behind early. They took an early double-minor for high sticking, and Mark Stone made them pay. Stone scored again 6:50 later to give the Golden Knights a 2-0 lead.

The Oilers found their game though. They got one before the end of the first period to cut the lead to one at the first intermission. The Oilers outshot the Golden Knights 12-1 in a dominant second period that didn’t yield any goals. That didn’t cost the Oilers because they found a way to get one by Adin Hill less than a minute into the third period. The shots were 6-6 in the third period, but the Oilers managed to score three goals to take Game 1 by a score of 4-2.

Callouts

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins took the double-minor for high sticking just 1:33 into the game. That put the Oilers behind the eight-ball early, which is a trend that needs to stop happening. It was an innocent play where a stick check went awry. Things happen sometimes. I’m being nitpicky by calling Nugent-Hopkins out here, but there really wasn’t much else to complain about in Game 1 from an Oilers perspective.

Standouts

Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid stepped up once again. They both got assists on the pretty passing play that led to the 2-1 goal that got the Oilers back in the game. Draisaitl banked a shot off Hill and in for the game-tying goal less than a minute into the third period. Evan Bouchard ripped a point shot on net after taking a pass from McDavid at the point. The rebound deflected up and behind Hill to a waiting Draisaitl, and he finished the play off.

Shoutouts

Connor Brown is on a tear right now. He finished the first round with five points in six games, including a three-point night in Game 6. Brown scored again on Tuesday night. He found himself on a one-on-one rush against Shea Theodore, and he made a nice outside-inside move to deke past Theodore before putting a shot over Hill’s glove. That goal gave the Oilers the insurance they needed to close out the game.

Zach Hyman scored the game winner. He accepted a cross-ice pass from Evander Kane with enough space to walk in and rip a wrist shot past Hill from the high slot. Hyman also added six hits, which is a continuation of his uptick in physical play in these playoffs.

Bouchard had two assists in the game. More importantly, he wasn’t on the ice for a goal against. He won the five-on-five goal share battle by a score of 3-0, and he had an expected goals percentage of 83.38%. That’s the type of defensive game he needs to bring. Bouchard also recorded his 50th career playoff assist in Game 1. His 50 assists in 60 playoff games gives him the second best assists per playoff game rate among NHL defencemen behind Bobby Orr.

Calvin Pickard was solid between the pipes. Fifteen saves on seventeen shots won’t improve his save percentage, but he shut things down after a shaky start by the team.

Wrap

The Oilers became the first team in NHL history to have five consecutive comeback wins in the postseason. That speaks volumes about the resiliency of the players in that room. I keep saying that they need to start better, but they have proven that they are never out of a game.

The Oilers might not have gotten off to the start they wanted to in the game, but they got off to a great start in the series. Stealing one in Vegas early was big for the Oilers.

That was a high quality win by the Oilers. After they got behind early in the game, they put the clamps on the Golden Knights. They played with great structure in their own zone, and they did a great job of limiting rush chances for the Golden Knights. It helped that Alex Pietrangelo and Pavel Dorfoeyev both missed the game for the Golden Knights, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Oilers played a great game.

Game 2 goes Thursday night in Vegas.

Related: Oilers vs Golden Knights II: Series Preview