Oilers' 'sense of urgency' needs to go up after convincing Game 3 loss

EDMONTON --Just when the Edmonton Oilers appeared to be in control against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Second Round, they found out otherwise.

The Oilers lost by a convincing score of 5-1 in Game 3 at Rogers Place on Monday, two days after they defeated the Golden Knights by the same score in Game 2.

Vegas leads the best-of-7 series, 2-1. Game 4 will be here Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS).

"Forty-eight hours ago we played a game that we really like, 48 hours later we're here talking about not a very good one," Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. "Our game is not gone, it's not far. Obviously, we need our best in Game 4."

RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Oilers series coverage]

Game 3 started well enough for the Oilers, with Warren Foegele giving them a 1-0 lead at 2:45 of the first period. But less than two minutes later, Jonathan Marchessault scored his first of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at 4:44 to tie it 1-1.

Later in the period, Vegas was forced to put in goalie Adin Hill after Laurent Brossoit sustained a lower-body injury. But again, Edmonton failed to take advantage against Hill, who stopped all 24 shots he faced in what was only his second appearance since March 7.

"Not good enough. Not good enough in any way," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. "To a man, not good enough."

Edmonton finished the game 0-for-2 on the power play after going 5-for-10 with the man-advantage in the first two games of the series.

Although they can't control how many power plays they get in a game, the Oilers certainly have a say in the amount of penalties they're assessed. And despite going 4-for-4 on the penalty kill, Edmonton's discipline played a factor in the loss.

"I thought there were areas or parts of the rink where we have to be a lot harder," Woodcroft said. "We weren't always burned on it, but eventually when you keep putting your hand on the stove, you do get burned.

"And for us, that's one of the areas where we can be better, for sure."

That area Woodcroft referred to is the defensive zone, with him adding that his decision to pull Stuart Skinner after Jack Eichel made it 4-1 at 12:03 of the second period was not a show of mercy.

"I wouldn't characterize it like that. I'd characterize it as we're at the point in the game where we're trying to slow the game down a little bit, change a little bit of the momentum," Woodcroft said.

"We win as a team and we don't win as a team. This isn't down to any one individual. But to a man, all of us can be a whole lot better."

The Oilers will need to be in Game 4 against the Golden Knights, who have been their best on the road this season. They were 26-7-8 away from home during the regular season and 2-0 against the Winnipeg Jets in the first round.

"It's the playoffs, there's going to be momentum swings, there's going to be ups and downs and all that type of stuff," McDavid said. "We obviously saw that tonight with the big swing back the other way, and we've got to grab it."

McDavid added that the Oilers are in a familiar position, though, losing to the Los Angeles Kings in Game 3 of the first round to fall behind 2-1 in that series before winning the next three games to advance.

"Certainly, we don't like to do that at this time of year when, obviously, you lose in big games," he said. "With that being said, we were in the same position last series.

"We've bounced back before. Obviously, it's a big Game 4. We understand that and I would expect, again, our sense of urgency to go up. I expect our best game in Game 4."