Bring on the Stars: Edmonton Oilers KO Canucks in Game 7 triumph

It was a Game 7 that left both teams seeing stars. The Vancouver Canucks because they got knocked out and the Oilers because they’ll be taking on Dallas in the next round. In a series-clinching showdown in Vancouver, the Oilers won the unofficial Canadian championship and punched their ticket to a second Western Conference Final in three years by taking out the upstart Canucks in an unnecessarily close 3-2 finale. Hockey fans hoping for some white-knuckle drama in the deciding game didn’t get much of it until the waning moments when Ryan McLeod horrendous third-period gaffe gave the dead and buried Canucks life. Up until that point the game wasn’t even close as Edmonton grabbed the contest by the throat from the opening faceoff and never let go. They outshot Vancouver 13-2 in the first period, outscored them 3-0 in the second period and were eight and a half minutes from cruising to the win. Then McLeod, who doesn’t have a point in the playoffs, almost turned the tide when turned the puck over on a soft play in front of his net to cut Edmonton’s lead to 3-1 and ignite the crowd in Vancouver. Sure enough, Vancouver rode the momentum and made it 3-2 on Flip Hronek’s goal with 4:36 to play. Suddenly the whitewash turned into a wild finish, but Edmonton’s poise won the day. “We know how to make it stressful,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid. “I thought we played a great 15 minutes but we kind of gave one away there to make it interesting. We hung in there, though.” Credit the Canucks, they’re a scrappy little team that kept the series going for longer than most people expected, but the separation was evident for most of the series. They were outshot 106-58 in Games 2, 3 and 4, outscored 5-1 in Game 6 and were outshot 23-4 when midway through Game 7. But Edmonton wasn’t going to be denied.   Dallas bound For the Oilers, the road gets considerably tougher from here on in. They’ll have a short turnaround before opening the Western Conference Final against a powerhouse Dallas team that has already taken down the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche in six games each. Edmonton and Dallas met three times this season with each side posting a 4-3 decision and the Stars whipping the Oilers 5-0 in the last meeting on April 3. Surrender In a continuation of their bizarre pre-game ritual celebrating the year they got swept in the Final and complained about the officiating, Vancouver had somebody skate out in a Canucks jersey and wave a white towel. They carried the surrender theme into a first period where they were outshot 13-2. But the first period was a microcosm of the series. Edmonton controlled the play and had the vast majority of chances but couldn’t put a dent in Vancouver goalie Arturs Silovs. Worm turns Vancouver’s luck ran out in the second period, though. Cody Ceci drew first blood (with the shots 14-2) at 1:16 and Evan Bouchard continued his torrid offensive pace with his fifth goal of the series at 5:50. A power play marker from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at 15:22 gave Edmonton its first goal on the man advantage since Game 3 and gave the Oilers a three-goal cushion at the second intermission. Nugent-Hopkins caught fire offensively in this series, counting for 10 points in the seven games, including a goal and an assist in the clincher. Killing it Edmonton’s penalty killing has been sensational in the playoffs and was again in Game 7. It outshot Vancouver 1-0 with Ryan McLeod serving a double-minor for high sticking late in the first period, with the only scoring chance of the Canucks power play coming when Edmonton’s Connor Brown had a breakaway. With the Canucks running out of time in the third period, Edmonton killed off another one on the third to make it 14-straight kills since Game 3. Ouch With the Oilers up 3-0 in the third period, Vancouver fans added insult to injury by breaking into a chant of “Let’s Go Petey” in an effort to wake Elias Pettersson from his month-long playoff slumber. It’s all kinds of cringe-worthy when the future of the franchise, a guy who just signed an eight-year extension that will pay him $11.6 million a year, has to be urged on with sympathy cheers like the slowest kid in a Grade 3 gym class. E-mail:  rtychkowski@postmedia.com