The Vancouver Canucks thought they had forced overtime with the Edmonton Oilers in Game 4, but the Oilers got a late regulation goal to tie the series and flip momentum to their side.
Edmonton entered Tuesday's game in a place of desperation, turning the net over to Calvin Pickard, a goalie who had never operated as a consistent NHLer, either as a starter or backup, in over a decade in the league.
Determined to not let another year of the primes of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid be wasted by goaltending, the Oilers had to avoid a loss Tuesday that would plunge them to a 3-1 deficit.
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Evan Bouchard Scores Late Goal to Save Oilers
Earning the opportunity of his career, Pickard took the ice and made the absolute most of it.
The veteran goalie allowed the Oilers to build a lead, as he held the Canucks scoreless early, and Leon Draisaitl scored on the power play to give the team a 1-0 edge.
Veteran center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored a critical goal with less than a minute left in the second period that gave the Oilers a 2-0 lead and put the Canucks in a precarious position heading into the third.
Just as they have all season, though, the Canucks battled back. Connor Garland finally solved Pickard early in the third to make it 2-1, as Calgary transplants Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov picked up assists to continue their impactful run in Vancouver.
Time went on without an equalizer, and the Canucks were forced to empty their net to try to tie the game. They came through and appeared to force overtime when Dakota Joshua tipped home a shot with under two minutes remaining.
But the Oilers showed their resiliency in the remaining time, as star defender Evan Bouchard made his biggest impact yet in a season full of them when he finished off a feed from Draisaitl to win the game.
The series now shifts back to Vancouver for a trademark Pivotal Game Five, with a lot on the line and two netminders neither team ever imagined they'd be relying on in this situation.
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