Oilers throttle Golden Knights to tie series 1-1

After taking the 1-0 series lead Wednesday behind a strong third period, the Vegas Golden Knights were defeated, 5-1, by the Edmonton Oilers Saturday, May 6 in Game 2.

The series now shifts to Edmonton for Games 3 and 4.

“They were a lot better than us,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “They were ready to play, we weren’t. It falls on the coach to have the team ready to play and I didn’t do a good enough job there. They were just much better than us.”

Edmonton raced out to a 4-0 lead by the end of the first period which included back-to-back power play goals and a shorthanded goal to go up 3-0 within the opening 11:11 of the game.

“We have to make sure we’re not giving them those free chances,” right-winger Reilly Smith said. “Better start and make sure we’re staying out of the box.”

Edmonton center Leon Draisaitl continued his hot scoring as he put in two goals in the first period to go along with the four goals he scored in game one, giving him six goals scored in the first four periods of the series.

Fellow Oiler center Connor McDavid also scored two goals in this one as he now has five points in the first two games of the series (two goals, three assists).

McDavid capitalized on a power play goal to extend the Edmonton lead out to 5-0 heading into the final 20 minutes of the game. The only other Oiler to score in Saturday’s game was defenseman Evan Bouchard.

Vegas goaltender Laurent Brossoit started game two in what was his ninth start in a row dating back to April 11th against the Seattle Kraken. Brossoit saved 27 of the 32 shots he faced for a final save percentage of .750.

He was pulled at the end of the second period in favor of backup Adin Hill for the remainder of the game.

As mentioned before, the series now heads to Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta for the next two games. Game 3 is set to take place on Monday, May, 8 with puck drop set for 5:30 p.m. PST. The game can be seen on ESPN nationwide.

“We honestly didn’t play very good,” Defenseman Bryaden McNabb said. “They took it to us but that being said, it’s 1-1. It doesn’t matter how you lose. We have Game 3 in a couple of days so we’ll be ready for it.”

The lone goal of the evening for the Golden Knights came 1:36 into the third period when center Ivan Barbashev lit the lamp for the home team. It’s Barbashev’s third goal of the series and his fourth of the playoffs.

Assisting on Barbashev’s goal was captain Mark Stone who picked up his seventh assist of the playoffs.

“Not a great night for us, but the series is 1-1,” Stone said. “I don’t think anyone in this locker room thought we were going to sweep the Edmonton Oilers. It’s a 1-1 series so we’ll regroup and come back ready to go Monday night.”