JT Miller’s late goal sees Canucks overtake Oilers to take 3-2 series lead

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – JT Miller scored with 31.9 seconds left to lift the Vancouver Canucks to a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night, moving them one win away from the Western Conference final.

Carson Soucy and Phillip Di Giuseppe scored in their return to the lineup for Vancouver, which will look to close out the series in Game 6 on Saturday in Edmonton. Rookie Arturs Silovs made 21 saves for the Canucks.

With the game tied at 2-2, Vancouver’s Pius Suter fired a shot close to the boards and the shot ricocheted off teammate Elias Pettersson’s skate in front of the net and hit the post. Miller caught it and hit it for the go-ahead goal, his third of the playoffs.

Evander Kane and Mattias Janmark scored for the Oilers, who got 32 saves from Calvin Pickard.

Leon Draisaitl scored the first goal of the game, digging a puck behind the Vancouver net and backhanding it to Kane at the bottom of the circle. Kane shot past Silovs for his third goal of the postseason 4:34 into the game.

Draisaitl’s assist gave him at least one point in each of Edmonton’s 10 playoff games. He has eight goals and 13 assists in the postseason.

Soucy, who sat out Game 5 while serving a suspension, tied it at 1 late in the first with a blast from the faceoff circle that hit the crossbar at 17:27. The defenseman was suspended by the NHL for crossing paths with Edmonton’s Connor McDavid after the final horn of Game 3.

Edmonton regained the lead 33 seconds later following an awkward run after Soucy fell down in the offensive zone. Connor Brown picked up the loose puck and advanced into Vancouver territory with Janmark. Brown passed to Janmark, who tapped in to put the Oilers up 2-1.

The Canucks tied it at 2 in the second after Nils Aman stopped Evan Bouchard’s clearing attempt behind the Edmonton net. Di Giuseppe, who missed Game 5 because of a personal issue, picked up the puck, spun and shot past Pickard for his first career playoff goal.

McDavid came within inches of giving Edmonton the lead with about six minutes left in the game, but the shot sailed just wide of the Canucks’ net.

The Oilers were 0-for-5 on the power play, while the Canucks were 0-for-4.

–

AP NHL Playoffs: and