Shore, Oilers use penalty shootout to beat Canucks 3-2 in final game of regular season

Even with star forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl sitting out for the playoffs, the Edmonton Oilers were able to close out the regular season on a high note.

Devin Shore was the only player to score in a penalty shootout session that went 10 players as the Oilers managed to capture a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.

Brett Kulak and Tyson Barrie also scored for the Oilers (49-27-6) who set a new franchise record for consecutive games with a point at home, going 14-0-1 in their last 15 appearances at Rogers Place. Edmonton, which will face the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the playoffs, has also won seven of its last eight overall.

“The way we’ve been playing for the last couple of months, even the last two and a half months, it’s all building towards what we’re going to go into (with the playoffs) on Monday,” Barrie said. “I think we are in a good position, we are a confident group and we know what is expected of us and what our systems are. We are ready and excited to execute it.

“I’ve been there many times, but I’ve never been so excited to make it to the postseason.

“I think we have a real shot this year and I can’t wait until Monday.”

Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft, who is 26-9-3 since taking over, is looking forward to the regular pace of the playoffs after a hectic last few months.

“It’s been a sprint,” he said. “For me personally, in the middle of February, it feels like the schedule has felt unforgiving, but we’ve gotten comfortable with the pace of it. I like where our team is.”

JT Miller and Conor Garland answered for the Canucks (40-30-12) who finished their season with losses in four of their last six after missing the postseason.

“I told them I was very proud of them. I can take maybe four or five games where we didn’t start very well, but of the 50 games I’ve been here, the effort was there almost every night,” Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “I’m unhappy that we didn’t make the playoffs, but I’m not unhappy with the way we played and I think the organization has a bright future.”

The Canucks almost got on the board with a power play opportunity midway through the first when a shot seeped into the net behind Oilers goaltender Mikko Koskinen, but Duncan Keith caught the puck just in time.

However, Vancouver would start the scoring with 2:27 remaining in the first frame when Miller fired a shot over the crossbar and into the net for his 32nd goal and 99th point.

There was no score in the second period, with the Canucks sitting on 30 shots after 40 minutes while the Oilers had 18 on Vancouver starter Spencer Martin.

Edmonton tied the game 31 seconds into the third when Kulak’s shot from the spot found the back of the net with Evander Kane providing the screen up front.

Vancouver took the lead two minutes later with a goal that Koskinen would like to recover when Garland tucked it under his arm from the faceoff spot.

The Oilers tied the game back up nine minutes into the third with a long-range bomb through a Barrie screen, ultimately sending the game into overtime.

Edmonton hosts the opening game of its first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday.

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The two teams also met to open the season, with Edmonton winning 3-2 in a shootout. The Oilers won the other two subsequent games 2-1 and 3-2 (overtime)…The Oilers still didn’t have defenseman Darnell Nurse, out with a lower-body injury…William Lockwood was missing. in the Vancouver lineup. (upper body), Thatcher Demko (undisclosed), Jaroslav Halak (upper body), Bo Horvat (lower body), Tanner Pearson (upper body), Tucker Poolman (upper body), and Nils Hoglander (lower body).