The Oilers hold off a late third-period push from the Canucks to win Game 7 after scoring three second-period goals in a resilient 3-2 win that sends the Blue & Orange to the Conference Final VANCOUVER, BC – Round 3 bound. The Oilers confirmed their place in the Western Conference Final on Monday night with a 3-2 victory over the Canucks in Game 7 at Rogers Arena, scoring three times in the second period to help build a three-goal cushion that was challenged in the final frame after the hosts mounted a late push in the final nine minutes of regulation. "First and foremost, they're a really great team. They obviously had our number all year long," Connor McDavid said. "It wasn't too long ago we were sitting here doing an interview, talking about losing 8-1, so they've had our number and it feels good to come out on top in this series. "It was a tight series. A passionate series. Both fanbases were going crazy. It's fun to come out on top of that." Cody Ceci opened the scoring on a slap shot less than two minutes into the middle frame, netting the second Game 7 goal of his career before Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added goals before the second intermission to build Edmonton a 3-0 lead heading into the final period. The Canucks weren't about to go down without a fight, with the hosts scoring twice through Conor Garland and Filip Hronek over a 3:57 stretch of the period to make for a dramatic finish to Monday night's winner-take-all matchup between two Canadian rivals. But the Oilers settled themselves down after a timeout to keep their resilient opponents from registering any shots in the game's final two minutes with the net empty. "A lot of credit to the Vancouver," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "They obviously have a lot of really good hockey players, and any deficiencies they had I think the coaching staff did a really good job covering those up and getting the most out of their guys. Their work ethic and their compete would be some of their strongest attributes, but they're a well-coached, well-rounded hockey team and there were a lot of close games. Only one game wasn't close, that's it." Nugent-Hopkins ended up recording the game-winner during a power play in the second period, finishing the night with a goal and assist, while Evan Bouchard was masterful after recording two helpers to set a new NHL record for the most points by a defenceman in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Stuart Skinner finished the night with 14 saves between the pipes to backstop the Oilers to victory, bouncing back in the final two games of the series by making 29 saves on 32 shots to help push his team into Round 3 with a steady effort. "I think we just came out and we played hard. I think we just kept it simple," he said. "There wasn't anything specific that we did. I think it's just how the guys played. I think all the guys just really showed up. We had all hands on the wheels tonight." The Oilers advance to Round 3 for the second time in three seasons and will face the Dallas Stars for the right to represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup Final. Game 1 will be Thursday at 5:30 pm MT at American Airlines Center. "It's going to be a man's game. That's a really good team," Leon Draisaitl said. "They'll be ready for us, but so will we." FIRST PERIOD The Oilers preached having a good start to Monday's pivotal Game 7 during their morning media availabilities, mentioning that they would have to come out in the first 10 minutes and set the tone in a tough building that's been rocking all playoffs. The Blue & Orange built themselves the start they wanted with a heavy forecheck and plenty of pace as they tried to immediately apply pressure on the Canucks, and their hard work early almost immediately paid dividends when Brett Kulak's shot from the top of the left circle off the rebound from Dylan Holloway's effort produced a sensational blocker save from Arturs Silovs only 1:22 into the first period. The Canucks were only able to muster two shots in the opening period, and their best chance wasn't even registered as one after Ilya Mikheyev was fed for an open look by J.T. Miller from an errant pass by Vincent Desharnais, but the Russian couldn't tuck it inside the post after beating the sliding Stuart Skinner. Mikheyev's miss was a major let-off for the Oilers before they continued their dominant start, outshooting the Canucks 10-1 in the opening 10 minutes and commanding play in Game 7 until an unfortunate double minor for high-sticking to Ryan McLeod put his team on the penalty kill for the remaining 3:44 of the opening frame. "That could've made it a different game," Knoblauch said. "I thought we played really well, and that could've been a turning point in the game. But our penalty kill, like it has been for almost all the playoffs, has been really solid." The Canucks took no shots on their man advantage, with the best opportunity of the man advantage going the other way for the Oilers when Connor Brown found himself free for a breakaway that he tried to place five-hole, but Silovs once again stood tall to keep out Brown's one-on-one opportunity. "It's something that we take so much pride in all season. This is why," Nugent-Hopkins said of the penalty kill. "Because we know that it can make a difference in games like this, so the power play's got to show up and score some timely goals, while the PK has to stop them. As I said, we take a ton of pride in it. We have so many great killers and guys that can do the job on the power play, so it can be the difference-maker and we're proud that it was tonight." The Oilers outshot the Canucks 13-2 in the opening 20 minutes and had the momentum entering the middle frame, but their players knew beforehand that momentum wouldn't be enough to advance. They needed a big period on the other side of the intermission to prevent the Canucks from being emboldened by keeping it scoreless after the opening period. "You need [contributions from everyone] if you want to go deep into the playoffs. A lot of times, it's not so much on the scoresheet. It's a lot of little things that guys are doing that aren't getting recognized, but it's face-offs, spending a shift in their zone and grabbing momentum back for a team. There are a lot of little things that a lot of people might not see in a game, but we certainly recognize it and we appreciate it." SECOND PERIOD It's quite clear now that Cody Ceci thrives when his side has their back against the wall. The 30-year-old defenceman scored the vital game-winning goal back in 2022 in Game 7 against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 7 to help book his team a place in the Second Round, and there was potential for the Ottawa, ON product to punch Edmonton's ticket to Round 3 when he powered through a slap shot for the opening goal just 1:16 into the middle frame. The Oilers killed off the remainder of McLeod's penalty before they were back on the offensive for Ceci to receive a lay-off pass from Brett Kulak above the right circle before it was powered over the left shoulder of Silovs, breaking the deadlock in this all-important Game 7 on the West Coast. "Obviously, that kill in the first was really big," Draisaitl said. "It gave us a lot of momentum going into the second, and then we just kind of picked it up where we left it off in the first." It's the second straight Game 7 for the Oilers where Ceci's scored the opening goal, and his opening marker on Monday night was his second of the postseason – with both being scored in this series at Rogers Arena. Ceci has four career post-season goals and became the first Oilers defenceman in franchise history to have multiple Game 7 tallies. Almost five minutes later, defenceman Evan Bouchard showed his patience with his point shot that ended up doubling Edmonton's lead just 4:36 after they found the opening goal. Bouchard waited for Hyman to fill the net-front area before it was put on goal by the blueliner, who saw his effort catch a piece of the winger before it caught a piece of the far post and crossed the goal line for a 2-0 Oilers lead with 14:10 to go in the second period, providing Edmonton with a little bit of breathing room, but not enough to get comfortable in an elimination scenario where anything could happen. Bouchard had a pair of assists in the second period to give himself 20 points (5G, 15A) in these playoffs, making him the third Oilers player to reach that mark in the postseason behind Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Skinner wasn't without his crucial saves despite only facing 12 shots through the first two periods. The Oilers netminder stood up Sam Laffery for his eighth save of the game just past the halfway mark on a dangerous rush by the Canucks before they came back on the next sequence and forced him into making a big glove save on J.T. Miller, preserving the two-goal lead. That was until Nuuuuuuuge and Edmonton's uncharacteristically quiet power play in this series finally came through in the clutch. The Oilers earned their second power play when Kulak was brought down by Laffery in Edmonton's zone with just over five-and-a-half minutes left in the middle frame. Bouchard produced his second assist when his slapshot was blocked before it popped out on the other side of the back boards to Nugent-Hopkins, who fired near post and put it off Silovs and into the top corner exactly a minute into the man advantage. Nugent-Hopkins set a new career-high in the playoffs with a goal and assist in the second period, reaching 16 points on his fourth goal of the playoffs. The Oilers had a three-goal lead through 40 minutes, but you know with the Canucks facing a big deficit on home ice, you know there was still a big push coming from the hosts. THIRD PERIOD For how close this series was until its final moments, it was only fitting we'd be in for a wild finish to Game 7. "It got a little stressful, and I think Leo said it perfectly," Knoblauch said. "We would have preferred it to be less stressful and kind of cruise to the end of the game, and for the most part, I think for 60 minutes in Edmonton and about 50 minutes here, we played a pretty good game and were solid offensively and defensively, I liked a lot of things that we did." The Canucks cut into the lead with just over eight and a half minutes left in regulation when Conor Garland capitalized on a bobbled puck to get an open chance in the slot that the centre buried over the right pad of Skinner to put the Oilers on the defensive trying to protect their lead. Things got even more nervy for the Blue & Orange after Filip Hronek's point shot found its way through four minutes later for his first goal of the playoffs at a critical point, making it 3-2 with a few minutes left for the Canucks to try and complete the comeback. The Oilers took their timeout after Darnell Nurse played the role of motivator at the previous TV timeout to bring the group together to try and get themselves back to what made them successful in the first 52 minutes of the game. That motivation provided by their defenceman was monumental in the way the final few minutes "Darnell is obviously one of the longest members here and has been a leader. His work ethic and his plays speak for a lot, but they speak even more when you're playing well," Knoblauch said. "And I think the last two games, he really stepped up and elevated his game. For him to have the confidence to rally the guys, they obviously appreciate that and I think it was a well-timed thing to do from a leader." "Nursey is just a great leader for us, and he stepped up at a big moment and felt the need to calm us down a little bit," Draisaitl added. "I thought it was the right call. After that, I don't know if they scored the second one after that or before that, I'm not sure, but I thought we did a good job in the last three minutes." With the Canucks' net empty, Edmonton sold out to try and get their bodies in front of pucks, ultimately getting a big block to send it out and into the neutral zone to allow the Oilers to see out their Game 7 victory and advance to the Western Conference Final. "Guys were eating pucks. Guys did everything that we possibly could have to win this game," Skinner said. "I think that shows you how hard of a team to Vancouver was. I also think it shows you how hard it is just to get to the Third Round and it only gets harder from here, so we've got some great experience being able to beat these guys in Game 7 and the way that we did it. "So being able to learn from those mistakes that we made and really carry on the things that we did well into Round 3 is going to be really big for us."