McDavid and Draisaitl Fuel Oilers in Wild Vancouver Finish
Bouchard piles on from the blue line as goaltending turns it into chaos.
This was all gas, no guardrails — the Edmonton Oilers won 9-7, but the better looks actually leaned Vancouver. By the shot quality ledger — expected goals, how much the shots were worth — the Canucks created about 4.09 while the Oilers had roughly 3.16, yet Edmonton finished at a blistering clip.
The stars drove it. Connor McDavid stacked five points on three shots, Leon Draisaitl added two goals and a helper with five shots, and Evan Bouchard chipped three points from the back end. Vancouver’s counterpunch was real: Marco Rossi (three points), Elias Pettersson (three) and Brock Boeser kept trading haymakers, but the bounces tilted orange.
Goaltending turned this into a track meet. Vancouver’s Kevin Lankinen allowed eight on twenty and yielded the crease; Leevi Meriläinen steadied it with ten stops on eleven. Edmonton’s Devon Levi gave up seven on twenty-two. No iron either way — clean pipes all night.
The takeaway: Edmonton’s top-end skill can win a shootout, but without sharper defending and saves it stays nerve‑wracking; Vancouver generated enough to feel they left a win on the table.