Canucks overcome 3-goal deficit to stun Oilers 5-4 in Game 1

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Conor Garland broke a tie with 5:34 left and the Vancouver Canucks overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the second-round playoff series.

Garland took a short pass from Dakota Joshua, faked a slap shot at the right circle and slipped a wrist shot between goalie Stuart Skinner's legs from a sharp angle for Vancouver's second goal in 39 seconds and third in 4:48.

“Everybody wants to be in that moment,” Garland said. “We understand when you have to execute and when you dig a hole like that, you got to execute if you want to get back in the game. And I think that was the biggest thing in the third, that we just executed and buried our chances.”

Game 2 is Friday night in Vancouver.

Elias Lindholm got the comeback started with 2:59 left in the second period. J.T. Miller cut it to 4-3 at 9:38 of the third, and Nikita Zadorov tied it with 6:13 remaining.

“Maybe four or five months ago, or maybe last year, you might have seen some frustration, some laziness or when something frustrated us, we take a bad penalty,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “If you look at it, when they’re 4-1, I thought we still stayed disciplined. We weren’t pinching, we weren’t selling the farm. And I think that’s maturity of the year, how we’ve kind of built our resolve.”

Joshua scored early in the second period and assisted on Lindhom's goal.

“The belief is always there,” Joshua said. “Just to know that you got to keep playing to the end, anything can happen.”

Arturs Silovs stopped 14 shots for the Canucks.

Zach Hyman scored twice for Edmonton to take the playoffs goals lead with nine. Mattias Ekholm and Cody Ceci also scored, and Skinner made 19 saves.

“They’re a good team and they were doing everything they could to come back and we were doing everything we could to hold on to the lead,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who was limited to an assist. “That happens in the playoffs. You try to hold on to lead and sometimes you’re maybe a little too passive.”

After getting just five shots on goal in the first period, Vancouver outshot Edmonton 19-7 in the last two periods.

“It’s a resilient group,” Tocchet said. “Sometimes we’re not pretty. Sometimes things happen. But I just feel like it’s a real close group. And this is when you need a close group, these situations. And I thought everyone had something to contribute tonight. There were no passengers.”

Edmonton was coming off a six-day break after beating Los Angeles in five games in the first round. Vancouver eliminated Nashville in Game 6 on Friday night.

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Vancouver Canucks' Nikita Zadorov celebrates his goal against the Edmonton Oilers with Teddy Blueger during the third period of Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Elias Lindholm shoots the puck at Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner during the second period of Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Nikita Zadorov, Dakota Joshua, Conor Garland and Ian Cole, from left, celebrate Joshua's goal against the Edmonton Oilers during the second period of Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Elias Lindholm is congratulated for his goal against the Edmonton Oilers during the second period of Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Conor Garland celebrates his goal against the Edmonton Oilers during the third period of Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Nikita Zadorov celebrates his goal against the Edmonton Oilers with Teddy Blueger during the third period of Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Nils Hoglander, Teddy Blueger, Nikita Zadorov, Ilya Mikheyev and Filip Hronek celebrate Zadorov's goal against the Edmonton Oilers during the third period of Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner (74) looks back at the puck as it bounces out of the net after Vancouver Canucks' Conor Garland, hidden back left, scored during the third period of Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' J.T. Miller (9) reacts after scoring against Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner (74) as Darnell Nurse (25) watches during the third period of Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Conor Garland, left, celebrates his goal, next to Edmonton Oilers' Darnell Nurse during the third period of Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Conor Garland, left, celebrates his goal as Edmonton Oilers' Darnell Nurse reacts during the third period of Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Conor Garland celebrates his goal against the Edmonton Oilers during the third period of Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Conor Garland, back, scores the winning goal against Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner (74) as Darnell Nurse (25) defends during the third period of Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series, Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

MIAMI (AP) — Harrison Bader and Tyrone Taylor each drove in two runs in a four-run first inning, star closer Edwin Díaz was not used in a save situation and the New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins 7-3 on Sunday for just their second win in seven games.

Brandon Nimmo homered and Francisco Lindor singled twice following a 1-for-27 skid as the Mets rebounded from blowing a four-run, ninth-inning lead on Saturday and avoided a three-game sweep. New York stopped Miami’s four-game winning streak.

“You’re not defined by what you do the day before. You’re defined by how you get up from adversity,” Lindor said. “We wanted this one for sure. I think it’s important to win after a tough loss like that.”

Sean Manaea (3-1) allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. Sean Reid-Foley and Jake Diekman pitched an inning each, and Reed Garrett got his second save by allowing one hit over two innings with four strikeouts in a 34-pitch outing.

Díaz has a 10.80 ERA over his last eight appearances after serving up four homers in 8 1/3 innings. He has blown three of his last four save chances.

“We all believe in him. We all know he’s going to be back,” Garrett said. “Whenever my name’s called, I’ll pitch, but I know as a collective unit we all believe in Edwin and we know what he can do.”

New York (21-25) had dropped five games under .500 on Saturday for the first time since an 0-5 start.

“Not an easy weekend, not the way we expected, but we just have to continue to move forward,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Today was a huge win for us.”

With New York ahead 4-3, Nimmo hit a two-run homer off Anthony Bender in a three-run ninth that included Brett Baty’s RBI single.

“I was just looking for a good pitch in the middle of the plate to drive,” Nimmo said. “I was able to hit that ball — good launch angle — and hit it hard. Found its way out of the ballpark.”

Nimmo returned to the lineup Saturday after missing two games because of a stomach illness.

“I’m coming around,” Nimmo said. “It’s been a little bit of a journey the last three days to get over the sickness. Right now, I’m just trying to get some appetite back. I’m definitely not at 100%. Just trying to battle through it and glad that I was able to help out there at the end and solidify the win.”

Dane Myers hit a two-run homer in the second, and Christian Bethancourt had a solo drive in the seventh against DIekman.

Sixto Sánchez (0-2) allowed four runs and six hits in four innings. He gave up Taylor’s two-out double in the first and Bader’s single.

“He was obviously better second through the fourth inning but he put us in a hole early,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “At this level it’s hard to come back from four runs every single time. He’s not giving his teammates a chance to win.”

Miami recalled right-handed reliever Emmanuel Ramirez from Jacksonville and optioned right-handed reliever Anthony Maldonado to the Triple-A farm team.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: DH J.D. Martinez (flu symptoms) didn’t play but was available to pinch hit. Mendoza said Martinez played through the illness the prior two days.

Marlins: INF Tim Anderson (lower back tightness) homered and had three singles in five at-bats during a rehab game with Jacksonville on Saturday, then went 0 for 4 with a walk on Sunday.

UP NEXT

Mets: RHP Tylor Megill (0-1, 2.25) will start the opener of a three-game series at Cleveland on Monday. RHP Ben Lively (2-2, 3.06) will start for the Guardians.

Marlins: LHP Ryan Weathers (2-4, 3.81) is scheduled to start the opener of a three-game home series against Milwaukee on Monday. The Brewers will go with RHP Joe Ross (2-4, 4.61).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

New York Mets' Sean Manaea delivers a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

New York Mets' Brandon Nimmo (9) and Francisco Lindor (12) congratulate each other after they scored on a double by Tyrone Taylor, during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

New York Mets center fielder Harrison Bader is unable to catch a ball hit by Miami Marlins' Josh Bell for a double, during the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Miami Marlins third base Emmanuel Rivera, right, tags out New York Mets' Harrison Bader as he slides into third base during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

New York Mets center fielder Harrison Bader (44) catches a ball hit by Miami Marlins' Josh Bell as both he and left fielder Tyrone Taylor (15) vie for the ball during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

New York Mets relief pitcher Reed Garrett, right, and catcher Omar Narvaez celebrate after the Mets beat the Miami Marlins 7-3, during a baseball game, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)