Oilers hold off Canucks in Game 7, advance to Western Final

VANCOUVER -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist, and the Edmonton Oilers eliminated the Vancouver Canucks with a 3-2 win in Game 7 of the Western Conference Second Round at Rogers Arena on Monday.

"It's something you kind of dream of as a kid (scoring in Game 7)," said Nugent-Hopkins, who is from Burnaby, British Columbia. "It truly hasn't sunk in yet that it's here because you're so focused on playing, but my brother and I and kids in the neighborhood, hours on end playing road hockey, and I’m definitely proud to do it with this group.

"I'm just happy to get the win, but it's cool to do it here."

Zach Hyman scored his NHL-leading 11th goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and Leon Draisaitl had an assist to extend his postseason-opening point streak to 12 games for Edmonton, which is the No. 2 seed from the Pacific Division. Stuart Skinner made 15 saves, and Evan Bouchard had two assists.

"It's exciting to beat a great Vancouver team," Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. "They're a really great team. It wasn't too long ago, a couple of months ago, we were sitting here doing an interview talking about losing 8-1 (in the season opener). They had our number and it feels good to come out on top. It was a tight series, a passionate series, both fan bases going crazy. It's fun to come out on top."

The Oilers will play the Dallas Stars, who eliminated the Colorado Avalanche in six games, in the Western Conference Final. Game 1 of that best-of-7 series will be in Dallas on Thursday.

"They're a great team, too," McDavid said. "It's the conference finals, you're going to have to play a great team, and they certainly are. They're deep, they're as deep a team as you're going to find in the NHL. Four lines, six [defensemen], they got a great goaltender. It will be a great test, but we're looking forward to it."

Conor Garland and Filip Hronek scored in the third period, and Arturs Silovs made 26 saves for Vancouver, which was the No. 1 seed from the Pacific. Forward Brock Boeser, who led the Canucks with seven goals this postseason, did not play because of an undisclosed injury.

"This team brought respect back to this city and this jersey, let's face it," Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. "There's no quit in this team. I’m really proud of the guys."

Edmonton outshot Vancouver 13-2 in the first period but couldn’t solve Silovs. He did a full split to make a blocker save on Brett Kulak's rebound attempt at 1:26, stopped Hyman on partial breakaway at 4:54, and denied Connor Brown on a short-handed breakaway with 41 seconds left in the period.

"'Arty' played his [butt] off for us," Tocchet said. "What a playoff for that kid and his growth, so there's a lot of positives out of that."

The Canucks failed to generate a shot on goal during a four-minute power play late in the first period that extended into the second for 14 seconds. The Oilers then broke the ice a little more than a minute later.

Cody Ceci put Edmonton ahead 1-0 at 1:16 with a shot from the right point through traffic that beat Silovs over his left shoulder.

Hyman made it 2-0 at 5:50 by deflecting Bouchard's shot from a similar spot past the blocker of Silovs.

Nugent-Hopkins then scored on a power play to push it to 3-0 at 15:22. He beat a lunging Silovs from the bottom of the left circle after Bouchard's one-timer caromed to him off the end boards.

"[Silovs is] so quick that you have to put it in a corner or else he's just simply going to get it," Nugent-Hopkins said. "He doesn't let those through. So, yeah, we respect the hell out of that guy. He battled all series and made it tough on us."

Edmonton finished 1-for-2 on the power play while Vancouver was 0-for-3. The Oilers didn't allow a power-play goal in the final four games of the series (14-for-14).

"It's something that we take so much pride in all season and this is why, because we know that it can make the difference in games like this," Nugent-Hopkins said. "Power play has got to show up and score some timely goals, and the PK has got to stop them. We got so many great killers, guys that can do the job on a power play, so it can be the difference-maker and we're proud that it was tonight."

Garland pulled Vancouver to within 3-1 at 11:27 of the third period, snapping a shot from the left circle under the blocker of Skinner after Ryan McLeod turned the puck over while trying to clear the zone.

Hronek cut it 3-2 at 15:24 with a one-timer through traffic from just inside the blue line.

"We weren't going to go quietly," Garland said. "We felt like we had a chance. It's hard to play with the lead in the playoffs. Human nature kicks in. Nobody wants to be the guy to make a mistake and sometimes teams sit back, and we knew we were going to get our looks, just had to execute. Just one shot short."

J.T. Miller got one last shot off with 13 seconds left but it was blocked in the slot.

"Hard-fought game, hard-fought series. We were a bounce away," Miller said. "I just love this team, man. I just love that we don't give up ever. It's a good sign."

NOTES: Draisaitl had the secondary assist on Nugent-Hopkins' goal, giving him 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists) in 12 playoff games. ... Ceci also scored the opening goal for Edmonton in its previous Game 7, a 2-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings in the first round in 2022. … Edmonton improved to 8-4 in its history in Game 7s. Vancouver is 6-7.