Kapanen scores OT winner to lift Oilers into West finals
Photo: AP
Once a healthy scratch at the start of the Western Conference semifinals, Kasperi Kapanen has now become the hero of the series for the Edmonton Oilers.
Kapanen, who was picked up on waivers in November, scored the overtime goal that saw the Oilers come away with a 1-0 win Wednesday against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5, News.Az reports, citing ESPN.
For the defending Stanley Cup runners-up, this will be their second straight trip and third in the past four years to the Western Conference finals. They'll face the winner of the Dallas Stars-Winnipeg Jets series, which resumes Thursday with the Stars holding a 3-1 lead.
"Just excitement, obviously, and this team's been playing really hard, and I've only played in a couple but just happy to be a part of this," Kapanen told ESPN after Game 5. "This meant everything to me. They took a chance to me and then they picked me up and ever since I've come to Edmonton, I've felt comfortable."
Kapanen became Edmonton's latest playoff star when Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse fired the puck on net. It created a scramble in front that saw Oilers superstar center Leon Draisaitl get his stick on the puck before Kapanen jammed it past Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill to win the game with 12:24 remaining in overtime.
While the goal was the one that clinched the series for the Oilers, it also amplified what was arguably the biggest difference in the series, in that the depth of the Oilers became the end of the Golden Knights.
Being a franchise built around a pair of generational centers in Draisaitl and captain Connor McDavid has its benefits. But depth had been among the challenges over the years, with Edmonton working to cultivate it in recent seasons. That paid off in 2023-24, as the Oilers reached the Stanley Cup Final before losing to the Florida Panthers in seven games.
The Oilers returned several players from that team while adding more help in free agency and through waivers, as in the case of Kapanen, to field a team that isn't solely reliant on a handful of players.
Kapanen's game winner was just one example of that collective effort.
Another was that of goaltender Stuart Skinner. Like Kapanen, Skinner began the series on the bench, in favor of Calvin Pickard, who then sustained an injury in Game 2 against the Golden Knights. Skinner initially started the playoffs as the Oilers' No. 1 goaltender but was demoted after allowing 12 goals in their first two games against the Los Angeles Kings in the quarterfinal round.
Pickard's injury led to Skinner's return in Game 3 -- a contest the Golden Knights won on a last-second goal from Reilly Smith in regulation.
That ended up as the last goal the Golden Knights scored in the series, with Skinner recording consecutive shutouts in Games 4 and 5.
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