On The Strip, the Edmonton Oilers rolled out the offense early in Gamer 2 on Saturday night.
Edmonton hit for four goals in the fist stanza and routed the Golden Knights 5-1 to even the series, 1-1, headed home for Games 3 and 4, starting Monday night.
“We were fast. We were physical. We got on top of them early and asserted the game we wanted to play tonight,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. “We had our skating legs, our sea legs, right off the bat. Right from the very first shift. We were able to come at their team in waves. … All that said. That’s one game. They have one on the board. We have one on the board.”
Leon Draisaitl scored the first of his double on the night, off the power play, with less than three minutes gone in the first for a 1-0 lead.
“He’s playing at an unbelievable level. I’m not sure why anyone would be surprised at this point,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid. “He’s the best player in the world a lot of nights. He’s shown that on a regular basis.”
Evan Bouchard added to the lead at 7:01 for the 2-0 advantage.
“Not a great night for us right?” Vegas’ Mark Stone said. “But the series is 1-1. I don’t think anyone in this locker room thought we were going to sweep the Edmonton Oilers. So it’s a 1-1 series, we’ll regroup, come back ready to go on Monday night.”
McDavid, who also scored a pair for the Oilers, hit for a shorthanded strike at 11:11 for a 3-0 lead.
Stuart Skinner made 30 saves in the Edmonton win.
“They were way better than us in the first period,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “You watch the game. They were better than us early on. They separated from us quickly in the first period. by converting on those power-play opportunities. … Credit them. They were better than us. Hungrier than us. They converted better. That’s it.”
The lead ballooned to 4-0 at 16:17.
McDavid hit off the power play at 11:43 of the middle frame to break the Golden Knights’ backs with a 5-0 count.
“It’s big [to win the special teams battle],” Draisaitl said. “It’s really good in the playoffs. Special teams can win you games. Obviously, we rely on that partly, but we’re also working for our power-play opportunities right? We’re a hard team to defend. When we do get the chance we try to capitalize.”
Ivan Barbashev scored early in the third, but it was simply window dressing on a stinker of an effort from Vegas.
Laurent Brossoit got the start for Vegas and made 27 saves, yielding all five goals to the Oilers, He was given the hook in the second intermission.
Adin Hill made four saves in a mop up role.
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