Oilers on brink of elimination after Game 5 loss to Golden Knights

Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists for the Vegas Golden Knights in a 4-3 win over the visiting Edmonton Oilers on Friday to take a 3-2 lead in their playoff series.

Reilly Smith, Mark Stone and Nicholas Hague also scored for Vegas, which scored three times in a one minute, 29 second period in the second period.

Connor McDavid scored twice for the Oilers, who head to Edmonton needing a Game 6 win on Sunday to avoid the upset.

If required, Game 7 would be Tuesday in Las Vegas.

WATCH |: Haig scores the decisive goal against the Oilers in Game 5.

Golden Knights’ Hague gets the winner to give Vegas a 3-2 lead over the Oilers

Nicolas Hague’s first goal of the playoffs was the game-winner as Vegas beat Edmonton 4-3 in Game 5 on Friday night.

Zach Hyman had a goal and an assist for Edmonton. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and defenseman Evan Bouchard each had two assists

Stewart Skinner was replaced by Jack Campbell after the Golden Knights scored four goals on 23 shots. Skinner retired in the second period for the second time in three games.

The Oilers are the last Canadian NHL club in contention for the Stanley Cup this year, as the Toronto Maple Leafs were eliminated after a 3-2 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on Friday.

It has been 30 years since a Canadian club lifted the trophy. The Montreal Canadiens won it in 1993.

Edmonton scored three goals in four chances while the Knights went 2-for-5 on Friday.

Fastest 3 playoff goals in Golden Knights history

Trailing 2-1, the Golden Knights scored the fastest three goals in their six-year playoff history starting at 14:03 of the second period.

A pair of goals within 29 seconds and the tying goal a minute later gave the home team a 3-2 lead heading into the third.

The Oilers had four-and-a-half minutes on the power play to start the third due to a major and game misconduct by Keegan Kolesar when Matias Ekholm pushed the corner boards face-first with 23 seconds left in the second.

McDavid scored his second goal of the game and seventh of the playoffs, skating through three gold jerseys and grabbing a rebound of his own at 3:40.

McDavid, the NHL’s leading scorer in the regular season, was nominated for the Hart Trophy on Fridaywhich he won in both 2021 and 2017.

WATCH |: McDavid scores a stunning goal in the 3rd period.

McDavid’s 7th goal of the playoffs is nothing short of spectacular in Game 5

Connor McDavid’s stunning goal, his second of the game, kept the Oilers within one goal in five games.

A chance for the Golden Knights to take a big lead in the third, a double minor by Warren Voegele to the high-sticking Shea Theodore, was cut short by a rough minor by Eichel after 67 seconds as Voegele went to the box.

At 15:34 of the second period, ending Skinner’s night, Hague fired a shot from the blue line into the top corner of the Edmonton net.

A puck deflected off McDavid’s skate into the Edmonton net and Smith got it past Skinner at 14:32.

Vegas made it five-three at 14:03 when Stone reached through Skinner and wrapped the Edmonton goalie’s far post.

Both of Edmonton’s first-period power-play goals came on layups by Ryan-Nugent Hopkins. The trooper was distracted by Hyman, who was standing in the Knights’ doorway at 9:56.

McDavid scored at 3:02 on a rebound on the mound. Vegas countered just 50 seconds later when Eichel pounced on a loose puck at the edge of the crease and made the most of the half-open net.

The Oilers challenged goaltender interference, believing Eichel pushed Edmonton defenseman Vincent Desharne into Skinner, but lost a subsequent Vegas power play challenge.

Oilers minus defenseman Darnell Nurse to his one-game suspension for inciting a brawl in the final minute of Game 3 on Wednesday.

The Knights were without defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, also serving a one-game suspension for a tackle on Leon Draisaitl on Wednesday’s final play.