Thatcher Demko made 34 saves as the Vancouver Canucks held on to beat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 Saturday night.

The Oilers outshot the Canucks 13-4 in the first period but couldn’t get a puck behind Demko.

“I think their team defended well, as well,” said Oilers defenceman Ethan Bear. “I think it could have went either way. We tried to play a tight road game and I think we didn’t give up a whole lot. It was a tight game right until the end and it just shows that every little play counts.”

LISTEN BELOW: Ethan Bear

Vancouver finally opened the scoring on a power play with 7:01 left in the second. After an extended goal mouth scramble, the Canucks forced the puck over the goal line with several players piled up in the crease. Bo Horvat got credit. The Oilers replied on the man advantage four minutes later when Leon Draisaitl pounded home a one-timer.

“I think we played really well for the most part,” said Draisaitl. “We dipped a little bit in the third for a couple of minutes, but other than that, I felt we were the better team. But sometimes that’s just the way it goes.”

LISTEN BELOW: Leon Draisaitl

Tyler Myers blasted a slapper past Mikko Koskinen to give the Canucks the lead with 10:37 to go. The Oilers went on a power play with 2:30 remaining and pulled Koskinen for an extra attacker with 1:50 left but couldn’t come up with the tying goal.

“We did some things alright, we had some chances, but we didn’t win,” said head coach Dave Tippett. “We’ve got to come here with the mindset we’ve got to do whatever it takes to win and we didn’t do it tonight.”

LISTEN BELOW: Dave Tippett

The Oilers, 18-12, have their four-game winning streak snapped. They’ll play in Calgary on Monday.

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