Oilers to face Canucks in second round of NHL playoffs

Western Canadian bragging rights are on the line in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year.

The Edmonton Oilers will face the Vancouver Canucks in the second round of the National Hockey League post-season after Vancouver advanced with a 1-0 win over the Nashville Predators in Game 6 Friday, winning the best-of-seven opening-round series 4-2.

The Oilers on Wednesday ousted the Los Angeles Kings from the first round for the third year in a row, beating their Pacific Division rival in five games.

The league’s other two Western Canadian squads are not chasing hockey's grail. The Winnipeg Jets were eliminated by the Colorado Avalanche in five games of their first-round playoff series, while the Calgary Flames failed to qualify for the post-season.

In the 44 years the Oilers have been in the National Hockey League, they've played the Canucks twice in the playoffs, beating them both times. Edmonton swept Vancouver in a best-of-five Smythe Division semifinal matchup in 1986 and eliminated them in six games in a 1992 second-round series.

The Canucks won all four regular-season games between the two teams this year.

The NHL has not announced when the first game between the Oilers and Canucks will be played, but Round 2 of the playoffs is slated to begin on Sunday.

With files from The Canadian Press