Kane, Oilers defeat Flames in Game 3, take lead in Western Second Round

EDMONTON -- Evander Kane scored a natural hat trick in the second period for the Edmonton Oilers in a 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames in Game 3 of the Western Conference Second Round at Rogers Place on Sunday.

Kane scored his three goals in 6:00 and leads the NHL with 10 this postseason. He agreed to a one-year contract with Edmonton on Jan. 27.
"It was a lot of fun, it was good to come back home and play these guys on our home ice," Kane said. "I thought we came out with a really good start and it was a good win for our group."

Leon Draisaitl had four assists and Connor McDavid had three for the Oilers, the No. 2 seed in the Pacific Division who took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. Game 4 is here Tuesday.
Edmonton's top line of McDavid, Draisaitl and Kane combined for 10 points.
"Obviously they made some plays on those goals and were spectacular, but I would go to their checking, though," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. "I'd talk about their checking, the way they defended. That line, I think Connor and Leon both finished plus-4. When our best players are leading the way defensively and setting the tone for what's expected for the full 200 feet of the rink, I think it makes us a better team."
Mike Smith made 32 saves in 55:45; he left at 8:35 of the third period after being hit behind the net by Calgary forward Milan Lucic, who was assessed a five-minute major penalty for charging and a game misconduct. Mikko Koskinen did not face a shot in 4:15 of relief.
Oliver Kylington scored, and Jacob Markstrom gave up four goals on 34 shots for the Flames, the No. 1 seed in the Pacific. Dan Vladar replaced Markstrom at the start of the third period and made seven saves.
Markstrom kept the game scoreless in the first period, when Calgary was outshot 21-7.
"I think we had a lot of our younger guys that haven't been in this situation before, were a little bit intimidated by the atmosphere," Calgary coach Darryl Sutter said. "The Oilers] haven't played at home in this round yet and they were going to come out hard and really play with a lot of purpose in their game, a lot of speed, and they did. And I thought 'Marky' [Markstrom] in the first period, probably made three or four saves that kept it at no score. But I just think give Edmonton credit the way they played in [the neutral zone], and it fed [McDavid's] game for sure."
***[RELATED: [Complete Flames vs. Oilers series coverage]*
Zach Hyman scored on the power play 52 seconds into the second period to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead. He took a pass from Draisaitl on a rush and scored from the right face-off circle.
Kane made it 2-0 at 6:58 on a 2-on-1 with Draisaitl, then converted a centering pass from McDavid at 7:51 to make it 3-0.
Kane completed the hat trick at 12:58, converting another centering pass from McDavid on a 2-on-1 rush to give the Oilers a 4-0 lead.
"We lose the second period 4-0, we let one guy dominate the game and unfortunately our second period wasn't good enough," Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson said. "We just have to stop [McDavid] with all five guys that are on the ice, six including Marky. We have to stop him as a unit. One individual can't stop him. We just have to stop him together."
Draisaitl's fourth assist of the period set a Stanley Cup Playoffs record.
"He has been really good for our group," Kane said. "He is getting better and better each day and you are seeing it in his play. He has been great for us this series and he just seems to find another level each and every night. He made some really good plays, especially on the wall tonight."

Kylington ended the shutout when he scored at 15:09 of the third period for the 4-1 final.
"They've got one player that plays half the game and is playing some great hockey right now," Calgary forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "We've got to find a way to stop that. When we get in their zone, we've got to hold pucks, nothing blind, and get shots to the goalie. That's where they can have some trouble, with rebounds and loose coverage with that. (We) just have to have consistent O-zone shifts and not throw anything blind where they can feed their transition."
NOTES: Kane is the fourth player in Oilers history to have multiple hat tricks in a single postseason, joining Wayne Gretzky (two in 1981, 1983, 1985), Mark Messier (three in 1983) and Jari Kurri (four in 1985). He is their third player to have a natural hat trick in a playoff game (Gretzky in 1983, Petr Klima in 1991). … McDavid has a six-game multipoint streak, the second-longest in team history (Gretzky, eight, 1983). McDavid leads the NHL this postseason with 23 points (six goals, 17 assists) in 10 games. … The Flames have been outscored 8-1 since leading 3-1 in Game 2, a 5-3 loss.