Oilers special teams spark Game 2 comeback victory

CALGARY -- It's the Edmonton Oilers' power play opponents fear, but it was their penalty kill that gave them life in the Western Conference Second Round against the Calgary Flames.

Zach Hyman's shorthanded breakaway goal on Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom at 10:14 of the third period put the Oilers ahead for the first time in the series and pushed them to a 5-3 victory in Game 2 at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday.
The best-of-7 series is tied 1-1. Game 3 is in Edmonton on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN2, CBC, TVAS, SN).
"Just Ryan Nugent-Hopkins] made a great defensive play to break it up and then saw some ice, just took off," Hyman said of the game-winning goal, which came 12 seconds after Warren Foegele had been penalized for slashing. "I had a little half breakaway earlier [and didn't score] so I didn't want to deke, I just wanted to shoot it. I got a good shot off and beat him.
"He's such a big goalie. He's long and lanky and it's hard to beat him across unless you get it up. So when you're coming in with that much speed, it's hard to save it when you just get it off quick."
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Hyman's goal was his third of the series and fifth of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was also Edmonton's third shorthanded goal of the playoffs, most in the NHL.
It gave the Oilers a key victory in special teams in Game 2. Edmonton went 1-for-6 on the power play. The Flames were 1-for-5.
"It was a big goal, a really big goal," said Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who had a goal and an assist. "Special teams are a big part of the series, and we got a power-play goal and to get a shorthanded goal, it's usually a good recipe."

The Oilers had the NHL's third-best power play in the regular season (26.0 percent), behind the Toronto Maple Leafs (27.3) and St. Louis Blues (27.0), and are fourth in the playoffs at 27.6 percent.
Edmonton's penalty kill, which was 17th in the League during the regular season at 79.4 percent, had been more of a concern and has given up a power-play goal in four of the past five games.
However, it came up with big plays at critical times in Game 2 to avoid going down 2-0 in the series.
After Hyman scored, the Oilers killed off a slashing penalty to Nugent-Hopkins with 3:12 remaining in the third period to help preserve the victory.
"I felt we deserved to win the game tonight based on hard effort alone," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. "We paid the price required to win a game in the second round. Our competition level was excellent. Our execution level coming out of our own end was very good. We found a way to win the special teams battle. We scored a power-play goal. We scored a shorthanded goal. … To a man, everyone was more competitive."