By Canadian Press

Henrique, Skinner help Oilers push Knights to brink of elimination with 3-0 win

May 13, 2025 | 7:09 AM

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers were able to put a devastating loss behind them and come back with their most complete effort of the playoffs.

Adam Henrique had a pair of goals and Stuart Skinner made 23 saves as the Edmonton Oilers blanked the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 on Monday to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their second-round, best-of-seven NHL playoff series.

Evander Kane had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who had reason to be rattled coming into the contest after allowing a goal with just 0.4 seconds remaining in the third period to lose Saturday’s Game 3 by a 4-3 score.

“I just think everybody was dialed in (after a) huge disappointment from Game 3, the way we played and the way it ended,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “They knew they had to step it up tonight.”

Skinner was once again in net for Edmonton after replacing 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 post-season.

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“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.”

The Oilers have won all eight of their Game 4s since 2023, with Skinner in particular shining in Game 4s. He upped his record to 5-0 in those contests with two shutouts and a 1.31 GAA, the lowest career Game 4 GAA average in post-season history.

Adin Hill made 29 stops in the loss for the Golden Knights, who are now one loss away from elimination.

“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 with a goal 1:27 into the opening period as Connor Brown stole a puck behind the net and sent it out front to Henrique in the slot and he blasted a one-timer past Hill for his second of the playoffs.

The Oilers took a two-goal lead with 6:57 left to play in the first as Zach Hyman wrestled a puck from behind the net to Henrique in front and he chipped in his second of the game, setting off a scrum after Kane bowled over Hill on the play.

It was Henrique’s first multi-goal playoff game since his rookie season in 2012, a span of 13 years and 16 days, the longest span between multi-goal games in Stanley Cup playoff history.

Edmonton went up 3-0 just over seven minutes into the middle frame as Kane elected to shoot on a two-on-one and it hit a defender’s skate and deflected in for his fourth of the post-season. Connor McDavid picked up an assist to extend his points streak to a personal best eight games. Edmonton now possesses a 15-2 record overall and 9-0 at home in the post-season when Kane scores.

“Evander is a gamer,” Knoblauch said. “He loves the big pressure games when there’s a lot on the line. The physical play, scoring a big goal for us, crashing the net, winning puck battles. He’s contributing a lot for our team.”

Game 5 takes place on Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Vegas forward Reilly Smith points 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, so we have a lot of faith in this group, and we’ll just take it one at a time,” he said.

NOTES

Edmonton made a couple of substitutions for Monday’s contest with Kasperi Kapanen replacing Viktor Arvidsson at forward and Troy Stecher entering on defence for Ty Emberson.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2025.

Shane Jones, The Canadian Press