Pius Suter and Vancouver will not play in the NHL Western Conference final. The Canucks were beaten 3-2 at home by Edmonton on Monday in Act VII of their Conference semi-final.
Vancouver was dominated from the first moments of this decisive match, scoring only 2 shots in the first third compared to 13 for the Oilers. The Canucks were also unable to send a single shot on target towards Arturs Silovs’ cage (26 saves in total) during a 4-minute power play.
This numerical advantage ended 14” into the second period. And 62” later, the Oilers were finally able to realize their domination thanks to a success from defender Cody Ceci. Zach Hyman scored his 11th goal in these play-offs in the 26th, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scoring the 3-0 in the 36th in the ‘power play’.
The Canucks were able to react in the third period, even if they only managed 17 shots on target (including 1 for Suter). Goals from Conor Garland and Filip Hronek even allowed them to come back within 4′ of the end. But the Oilers were able to tighten their defense in the final moments.
Edmonton will therefore challenge Dallas on Thursday evening in the Western Conference final, while the New York Rangers and Florida will face each other in the Eastern final from Wednesday. For Vancouver, deprived of its top scorer Brock Boeser (injured) for this Act VII, the dream of becoming the first Canadian franchise to win the Stanley Cup since 1993 has vanished.
/ATS
