LAS VEGAS — The Oilers are about a lot more than Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, something the Golden Knights learned the hard way.
For Edmonton to get through to the Western Conference final for the second year in a row, it took a goalie who was benched earlier in these NHL playoffs and a forward who wasn't in the lineup until Monday.
Kasperi Kapanen scored on a scramble in front of the net at 7:14 of overtime, and the Oilers beat Vegas 1-0 in Game 5 on Wednesday night to advance out of the second round.
''Obviously, we win games with Leon and Connor leading the way,'' Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. ''That's an absolute given. We won some games where our goalie outperformed their goalie. Then there's games where our depth guys came through and scored big goals. Hopefully, we're only halfway through this, but we're going to need contributions from everybody.''
The Oilers, who last season made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final before losing in seven games to Florida, will play Dallas or Winnipeg in the next round. The Stars, who lead 3-1, will go for the series win Thursday night.
Kapanen's goal backed up another shutout performance from goalie Stuart Skinner, who made 24 saves and drew several chants of ''Stu! Stu!'' from Oilers fans in the crowd. Skinner, who was benched two games into the playoffs, also blanked the Golden Knights in Game 4. This was his third start in a row in replacing the injured Calvin Pickard.
And Kapanen was a spectator the first nine games of the playoffs before finally getting his chance in Game 4. Given the other players on the roster, Kapanen said he understood why he was initially left out.
''The team was playing really well, so we weren't changing with the lineup, which is understandable," Kapanen said. ''The most important thing is the team winning and now us advancing. I knew eventually I'd probably get a chance. Just being patient and being ready.''
