Bouchard has scored in three straight playoff games and leads all blueliners with 15 points (4-11) in nine games, including three game-winners
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There wasn’t much to separate Quinn Hughes and Evan Bouchard in the first round of an eventful 2018 NHL Draft.
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And there wasn’t much to separate the elite defencemen in 2023-24 regular-season scoring.
However, there has been separation in the second season — the one that means everything to everybody — and it’s where Bouchard has been at his very best.
It wasn’t just delivering another dagger for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. It’s been there all year and especially in the playoffs.
He pulled the trigger in Game 4 with 38.1 seconds remaining in regulation time for a stunning 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks to even the second-round series at two games apiece.
Bouchard’s patience in the high slot to take a half step to ensure his wrist shot would get through a maze and between the blocker and arm of Arturs Silovs was textbook.
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It came 1:02 after it looked like Dakota Joshua had sent the game into overtime when a Brock Boeser shot deflected in off his skate.
“There wasn’t much time to sulk about that goal and we had to finish the period,” said the soft-spoken Bouchard, who had four shots, eight attempts and two blocks. “There were great plays all around. We did a great job to get in front of the goalie and I saw a lane and took it.”
Bouchard has scored in three straight playoff games and leads all blueliners with 15 points (4-11) in nine games, including three game-winners.
By comparison, Hughes has nine assists in 10 games, but has faced ample pressure against the Oilers. They’ve often taken away time and space to do his thing by triggering the transition, delivering long laser-like passes and be at his creative best in the offensive zone.
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On Tuesday, Hughes was hounded early and the first power play unit struggled to gain entries, especially on a four-minute advantage that didn’t generate a shot.
Like his teammates, it wasn’t until the final period where there were good shifts and rotations and chances. Hughes danced and dangled and started the scoring sequence on Joshua’s goal. It started with Elias Pettersson winning an offensive-zone draw and shoving the puck back to Hughes.
However, Hughes had but one shot and three attempts because of relentless pressure at the point and clogged lanes. The Oilers were fast and the Canucks were often a step behind and it had a profound effect on Hughes’ ability to excel until the second half of the game.
“He was trying, he was trying hard,” said Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet.
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The Canucks captain was more focused on his club being ready for Game 5 on Thursday because bounceback resilience has been the calling card all season.
“We had a great push the entire third and for that (winner) to happen was disappointing, but these things happen and you’ve got to move on,” he stressed. “We’re just going to need that push in the first period.
“There’s a lot of belief. We have to pressure the entire game. Our mantra the entire year is to not get too high or low.”
Bouchard’s post-season push shouldn’t be that surprising. He finished fourth in blueliner scoring this season with 82 points (18-64) — just 10 behind the front-running Hughes — and the connection between the two stars dates back to that 2018 draft.
The Canucks had considerable interest in Bouchard because they expected Hughes to be off the board by the seventh-overall selection. And when Hughes was still there, the Canucks jumped at the chance to land a generational talent.
The Oilers did the same three picks later. And, as they say, the rest is history.
The next chapter will be written Thursday at Rogers Arena.
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