Garland Scores Game-Winning Goal in 5-4 Comeback Win Over Oilers

The Vancouver Canucks clawed their way out of a 4-1 deficit and scored four unanswered goals to take game one against the Edmonton Oilers.

Head Coach Rick Tocchet was pleased with the resiliency of his group and felt everyone did something that contributed to the win. He also said one of the keys to the game was that they didn’t get frustrated, they also continued to play good defence and play disciplined.

“Resilient, the guys picked that word, that was probably the word tonight – resilient. I thought we were playing pretty good tonight even though it was 4-1. We hung in there and that’s really what it comes down to, [is that] we hung in there,” Tocchet said.

The Canucks held Oilers’ captain Conor McDavid to no shots on goal in a playoff game for the first time in his career.

Conor Garland had an opportunity on a breakaway in the first period, but he converted when it counted to get the go-ahead goal.

“It was a fake shot, I just tried to freeze him. He’s [Stuart Skinner] a good goalie and did a really, really good job on the breakaway staying with me there, so it’s going to be hard to beat throughout the series and it’s going to be a hard team to beat,” Garland said.

Even when their group was down 4-1, they continued to be disciplined and stick to their game plan.

“We were calm in between the second and third, we were calm in here, we felt good about our game. Obviously, they’ve got the two best players in the world there so at anytime they can strike, so you have to be focused for 60 minutes, but we felt good about our game for the majority of the night,” Garland said.

The Garland-Dakota Joshua-Lindholm line combined for three goals and three assists on the night.

Nikita Zadorov scored the tying goal that sent a sea of white towels twirling in the air at Rogers Arena.

“Teddy [Blueger] made a great play. There was a lot of room for me to get a shot through, likely hit the net, goalie was screened, and it went through,” Zadorov said.

“There’s a lot of belief in this group, you know we’ve done it before in Nashville. I don’t think anybody was giving up, even when we were down 4-1, we were staying positive because we like our five-on-five game. They got a couple bounces and on their side they have a lot of skill, they’re going to bury on their chances, but you have to give the credit to every guy in this room and Artūrs [Šilovs] saves at the end too. So, it was overall a great team win for sure,” Zadorov said.

Game Summary

In the first, Zach Hyman scored on the power play at 2:11 and Mattias Ekholm scored from the top of the left faceoff circle, taking a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.

Joshua scored a quick goal off a rebound to start the second and bring the Canucks within one goal.

Edmonton scored another two in the second, Cody Ceci netting one from the point and Hyman potting his second goal of the night.

Joshua did work in the corner, popping the puck loose to Elias Lindholm who backhanded it in from behind the net and it bounced off Ceci’s skate into the net, putting Vancouver within two goals at the second break.

In the third at four-on-four, Brock Boeser found J.T. Miller, tipping it in from the goal line to bring Vancouver within one.

Nikita Zadorov scored at 13:47 from range, tying the game 4-4.

Conor Garland scored the go-ahead goal less than a minute later off a pass from Joshua. Garland faked the shot from the right dot and sent it home as he was just above the goal line.

The Canucks and Oilers are back at Rogers Arena for game two of the series Friday, May 10th at 7:00 p.m. PT.