Wednesday night was tense; desperation was in the air. The Golden Knights were playing with their season on the line. Meanwhile, the Oilers had a chance to end the series early and keep themselves energized heading into the latter days of May.

Neither hockey club gave the other any space to breathe for the first ten minutes of Game 5; There were only two shots on net – one for each team. Play gradually began to open up, but neither the Oilers nor the Golden Knights broke down to give up the coveted first goal of the night.

Score: 0-0 heading into the first intermission.

The stalemate continued through the second period. Both teams refused to give the other sustained zone time. Checking remained fierce, and half of the period was played in the neutral zone. Adin Hill and Stuart Skinner both made a couple quality saves to keep their respective squads tied. Edmonton had two powerplay opportunities, but weren’t able to convert on either.

Score: 0-0 heading into the second intermission. By the end of the forty minute mark it felt like whoever scored first would be winning the game.

Bouchard started the third period with a hooking penalty to give Vegas their first powerplay of the night. The Knights had some very dangerous looks, but Stuart Skinner stayed cool and made strong positional saves. The most dangerous shot of the night would come immediately after the penalty kill, where Brett Howden had a wide open shot from point blank distance, but somehow wristed it wide.

Score: 0-0 heading into overtime, first team to score wins – this game was a showdown, and nobody was blinking.

Seven minutes into overtime, Vegas blinked.

The play started out innocently enough, Darnell Nurse sent a shot from the top circle. Adin Hill made the intial save, and Kasperi Kapanen attacked for the rebound. However, Adin Hill lost his footing and ended up on his back. In the scramble Kasperi Kapanen relentlessly chopped at the puck as the Vegas defenders rushed to help. Kapanen fell to his knees and scored the game winning goal with one last chop before having his stick knocked out of his hands – just half a second too late.

Score: 1-0 Oilers.

Series: 4-1 Oilers.

The Edmonton Oilers have won their revenge series against the Vegas Golden Knights, and it was a full team effort. The forward group pitched in for goals across the lineup. There weren’t glaring holes in the defensive core. Stuart Skinner got back-to-back shutouts. Edmonton won this series by rolling four consistent lines and grinding down a Vegas squad that mainly scored on the powerplay.

Edmonton now has the luxury of taking a much needed rest as they wait to see whether they’ll draw the Dallas Stars or the Winnipeg Jets as their opponent in the Western Conference Finals.

On to round three.