PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Canucks (Game 4)

The Edmonton Oilers aim to even up their second-round series against the Canucks in Game 4 at Rogers Place on Tuesday night.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet & Hockey Night in Canada at 7:30 p.m. MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Canucks (Game 4)

EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers will have to embrace being uncomfortable in an attempt to try and even up their second-round series with the Canucks at two games apiece with a victory in Game 4 at Rogers Place on Tuesday night.

Thankfully, this is a team that has experience in those types of areas.

“Yeah. Not a comfortable situation to be in,” Connor McDavid said, providing a pulse check for an Oilers dressing room during Monday’s media availability. “You never want to be down in a series, though we've been in this situation before, and we've always responded. And I would expect us to do the same.”

The Oilers are 3-0 in Game 4s over the last two postseasons and will need to make that four in a row to answer for their 4-3 defeat in Game 3 on Sunday despite their plus-27 shot differential – tied for the largest margin of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs so far.

“I don't think we're gonna rest on our laurels or just the fact that we're outshooting them three-to-one or four-to-one,” Evander Kane said.

“At the end of the day, you can have as many shots as you want, but what matters is on the scoreboard. Through the entire playoffs, they've seemed to be able to score enough goals to win by getting 15 to 16 shots a game, so I think we have to consider that a little bit and make sure we're not giving up as many goals as we have.”

The Canucks were victorious in Game 3 despite their low shot total (18) and goaltender Arturs Silovs making 42 saves to outduel Stuart Skinner, who hasn’t quite been able to find the key saves in this series after making 11 saves on 15 shots before being relieved by Calvin Pickard to begin the third period.

"You never want to get pulled into a game," he said. "You feel like you’ve let down the team, so I have some work to do here to get back at it and learn from the mistakes that I've been making."

Head Coach Kris Knoblauch admitted post-game on Sunday that his team could've used a few more saves, but his team needs to help out their netminder defensively by checking their man and limiting their turnovers unlike Game 3, when mistakes led directly to two goals against while the Canucks' other tallies came on the power play.

Knoblauch wouldn't confirm if Edmonton's starter on Tuesday would be Skinner, or if Pickard would come in after he began the third period on Sunday and only had to make three saves with the Oilers buzzing at the other end with a 22-3 shot advantage. That decision will be made before he steps onto the podium in the Oilers Hall of Fame Room after the morning skate.

The head coach has confidence in both of his team's netminders, but could see Tuesday night's Game 4 as an opportunity for Pickard to come in and provide what he did during the regular season – timely relief from a hectic schedule and steady back-up goaltending.

"Last night was a game where I'm sure he knows he could've played better, and we've got two great goalies," Knoblauch said. "Since I've been here, I've been very happy with the goalies that we've had and the level of play that they've given us. We've got a decision to make on who's going to be the next guy to go in, but if it's Stu, I have confidence that he will bounce back."

Skinner believes his 5-2-1 record, 3.22 goals-against average and .877 save percentage in eight games during these playoffs are not indicative of his play, and that he doesn’t feel like his best game is that far off.

“It's as close as one percent. I think I could be,” Skinner said. “It's just a very minimal, small, little thing that I can do and we could be talking here laughing about how great I am, but it's just not the case. So I got to be able to find that one percent. I got to find that little bit more, that one more save. I believe that if I do that, I can kind of just get into the flow of things and everything will. I'll just be able to start playing better."

"I think it's just me being able to find saves at key times and I haven't been able to do that."

Connor McDavid added that the offence should've been able to provide their netminder more help after taking 45 shots, with four posts also adding to the sting of losing on home ice on Sunday for the Oilers. McDavid was held without a point in the defeat, and he and his teammates will have to generate more ways to penetrate past the Canucks' defence and get more pucks on Silovs in the crease.

"They defend really well," McDavid said. "I've said that all along. They defend really well. They're good around their net. They have the big D-men that hang around there and we've got to find a way to get there. We hit a couple of posts and things like that and maybe it could've gone the other way, but ultimately, we've got to find a way to get to the net and get shots through."