Oilers win Game 7 over Canucks, advance to Western Conference Final

The Edmonton Oilers weathered a late Vancouver Canucks charge on Monday night, beating the hosts 3-2 to win their seven-game second-round playoff series in the decisive showdown.

You couldn't ask for much more drama: Game 7 with two western Canadian teams in a do-or-die playoff game in a series in which neither side won consecutive games.

Until Monday night.

That's when the Edmonton Oilers weathered a late Vancouver Canucks charge, beating the hosts 3-2 to win their seven-game second-round playoff series in the decisive showdown.

Down three games to two following a close Game 5 dominated by the Canucks, the Oilers turned the table in Game 6, winning it in convincing fashion 5-1 on Saturday before taking the final game.

"I knew it was going to be a tight game," Oilers star Connor McDavid told media following Monday's match.

"No one came in here thinking it was going to be some kind of cakewalk. It was tight. I thought we did a good job of responding."

Cocy Ceci opened the scoring after his point shot fooled Canucks goalie Arturs Silovs 1:16 into the second period, a minute after the Oilers had killed off a four-minute minor penalty to Ryan McLeod late in the first period for high-sticking Elias Pettersson.