Oilers, Golden Knights tied after high-scoring first period in Game 3
Published
The Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights are even 2-2 after an eventful first period in Game 3 Saturday night.
After Corey Perry scored two goals to open the game and give the home side a 2-0 lead, Vegas clapped back with two goals in less than a minute from Nicolas Roy and Reilly Smith to even things at two goals apiece.
Perry scored his first mid-way through the frame after taking a feed from Connor McDavid and beating Golden Knights netminder Adin Hill with a wrist shot. The veteran winger found the back of the net just under four minutes later, tipping in an Evan Bouchard point shot on the power play to double the Oilers' lead.
But the Golden Knights rallied, first cutting the Oilers' lead in half on a goal from Roy, who batted home a loose puck in front of the net. Fifty-four seconds later, Reilly Smith cut in and beat Stuart Skinner with a nifty backhand move to pull the Pacific Division winners even late in the frame.
With Calvin Pickard day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, Edmonton started Skinner in net for the first time in six games. Skinner allowed a total of 11 goals in the Oilers’ first two games against the Los Angeles Kings in the opening round, causing head coach Kris Knoblauch to turn to Pickard.
Skinner turned aside seven of the nine shots he faced, while Hill saved four of six.
Skinner appeared to sustain his injury late in Game 2 after Golden Knights forward Tomas Hertl fell on the back of his leg during a net-front battle. Pickard has a 2.84 goals-against average and .888 save percentage in seven games during the postseason, while Skinner entered Saturday’s contest with a .810 stop rate and 6.10 GAA.
Despite the turmoil in the crease, the Oilers took the opening two games of the series, winning Game 1 4-2 on Tuesday and Game 2 5-4 in overtime Thursday.
Game 4 will go Monday evening in Edmonton.