EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Adam Henrique had two goals, Stuart Skinner made 23 saves and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 on Monday night to take a 3-1 lead in their second-round NHL playoff series.
Evander Kane had a goal and an assist for Edmonton. Connor McDavid picked up an assist, extending his point streak to eight games.
The Oilers, who bounced back after allowing the winning goal Saturday night with just 0.4 seconds remaining, need one more win to advance. Game 5 is on Wednesday in Las Vegas.
“I just think everybody was dialed in (after a) huge disappointment from Game 3, the way we played and the way it ended,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “They knew they had to step it up tonight.”
Skinner was once again in net for Edmonton after replacing backup Calvin Pickard, who had rattled off six consecutive wins before getting injured in Game 2. Skinner, who had a 5.36 goals-against average coming into the game, improved to 1-3 in the postseason.
“We just put on our work boots and our hard hats and went to work,” Skinner said. “The way that we’ve competed over a number of games is pretty incredible. It’s hard to do that and the way that we’ve been doing it on a consistent basis just shows a lot of pride in this group.”
Adin Hill made 29 stops for the Golden Knights, who are one loss from being eliminated.
“Be better, that’s sort of it,” said Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel, who had his points streak halted at six games. “We go home and you’re at home, Game 5, win a game and go from there. That’s really all that matters at this point. Collectively as a group, I just think it needs to be better, cleaner and with more urgency.”
Edmonton got off to a quick start. Connor Brown stole a puck behind the net and sent it out front to Henrique in the slot. He blasted a one-timer past Hill at 1:27 for his second goal of the playoffs.
The Oilers scored again with 6:57 left in the first. Zach Hyman wrestled a puck from behind the net to Henrique in front and he chipped it in, setting off a scrum after Kane bowled over Hill on the play.
It was Henrique’s first multigoal playoff game since his rookie season in 2012.
Kane helped close it out when he elected to shoot on a 2-on-1, and it hit a defender’s skate and deflected in 7:38 into the second. It was his fourth of the postseason.
The Oilers have won all eight of their Game 4s since 2023.
Vegas forward Reilly Smith pointed out the Golden Knights were down 2-1 to Minnesota in the first round before marching back with three straight wins to advance.
“I mean, we did it last series," he said, “so we have a lot of faith in this group and we’ll just take it one at a time.”
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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