PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers at Flames (Game 2)

The Edmonton Oilers will play Game 2 of their second-round playoff series at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday against the Calgary Flames.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet & CBC or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Video: OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game 2 at CGY 05.20.22

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS
GAME DAY VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game 2 at CGY
PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft
PRE-GAME RAW | Keith & Kane
RECENT VIDEOS
RAW | Zach Hyman
RAW | Coach Jay Woodcroft
RAW | Mike Smith
FULL HIGHLIGHTS | CGY 9, EDM 6
BY THE NUMBERS
Oilers Statistics
Flames Statistics
Stats Comparison
Game Notes
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
BLOG: Smith ready to bounce back
BLOG: Thursday's practice content
RELEASE: Oilers recall seven
VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Tuesday's game on Sportsnet or CBC at 8:30 PM MT.
News and notes from Thursday's media availability for the Edmonton Oilers, where Mike Smith was confirmed as Edmonton's Game 2 starter by Head Coach Jay Woodcroft.
**>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG**
CALGARY, AB - The only late start the Edmonton Oilers want to see on Friday night is the scheduled time for puck drop at Scotiabank Saddledome.
"I don't know if it changes much. It's just longer," forward Evander Kane said about preparing for an 8:30pm start to Game 2 of this second-round Battle of Alberta. "It's scheduled for 8:30 but we know it's not going to start until 9, so we'll be ready to go.
"I'm sure guys that drink coffee will get a few extra coffees in, and I'll have my pizza."
The Oilers won't want to wade into Game 2 tonight after giving up two goals in the first 51 seconds of Game 1 in a start that players and Head Coach Jay Woodcroft alike believed was synonymous with the entire team's play during an eventual 9-6 defeat that staked them to 1-0 deficit in the series to the Calgary Flames.
"Obviously the start," defenceman Duncan Keith said about the adjustments needed ahead of Game 2. "But that kind of goes hand in hand with what we're doing out there, so I think we're always at our best when we're playing with speed and sticking to our team structure. We'll try to do a better job of that tonight, especially at the start."
While there is an emphasis on coming out of the gates with urgency and without caution, the Oilers don't want to see themselves get away from the team's distinct structure and leave themselves reacting to what the Flames do in front of them.
"They've got a hardworking team over there that competes hard, so we're going to have to be ready," Keith added.
Overall, the onus is on each of the Oilers players to play their part and start on time in a full-team approach towards being prepared to provide a response to Wednesday night's Game 1 defeat.
"I think the other team gets a say as well sometimes, and certainly we want to assert our game on the other team right off the bat," Woodcroft said. "We start with a certain type of plan and we want to be on our toes and not on our heels. But other teams do some good things as well, and I think in making sure we're ready to go there's a collective responsibility but also individual responsibility as well."
PROVINCIAL PHYSICAL RIVALRY
This Battle of Alberta is brewing to be an all-out war.
The 9-6 scoreline was reminiscent of the last time these two teams met in the playoffs 31 years ago back in 1991, and the physicality matched that old-time hockey angle.
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl threw their bodies around, registering five and four hits respectively to go with multi-point nights while the likes of Evander Kane, Zack Kassian, Matthew Tkachuk and Milan Lucic were at the centre of some mix-ups between the two rivals throughout the night.
Kane thought the Oilers acquitted themselves well when it came to backing up their teammates after forging their way back into the game before the comeback fell short in the third period, believing there's another level of physicality they can hit in Game 2 to exceed Calgary's hard forecheck and tactics to get under their skin.
"I think just the way the game went, it was a bit of a shootout there and we got back into it in the third," Kane said. "They're a team that's going to be physical, they're going to try and intimidate, they're going to try and do a lot of talking. But I thought we handled it pretty well.
"I think we can be a little bit more physical tonight and push back a little harder, and I think we'll show that this evening."
Video: PRE-RAW | Evander Kane, Duncan Keith 05.20.22
But there's more to be done to protect the likes of McDavid and Edmonton's offensive leaders from some of Calgary's leading physical offenders. Among that list is the name of Lucic, who delivered a hard check on the Oilers captain early to spark a response from his teammates.
An eye for an eye is the name of the game, says Kane.
"If they're going to go after our top guys, we're going to go after their top guys," he said. "I think we didn't do a good enough job of that last game. I think we did a good enough job of sticking up for each other and I think that's the best way to handle that."
As for having a direct target on Lucic for his antics and a buzzer brawl at the end of Game 1, it's best to let that unfold on the ice on its own, Kane added.
"I don't know if there's much of a battle there, but I think we welcome him being on the ice whenever he is," he said."
Physicality comes in different forms, and Woodcroft isn't going to let being more physically engaged in the contest result in the Oilers getting away from what their definition of being physical is or their structure.
"We want to be who we are. We want to play towards our identity," he said. "We don't want to be out of character. For us, we measure physicality in different ways. Calgary's type of physicality might be a little bit different than Edmonton's type of physicality.
For us, we have things that we look towards that we think will give us a chance to win. If I was going back to review that Game 1, I would say to a man every one of us can be better. All of us. That's where we put our focus here."
LINEUP NOTES
Mike Smith was confirmed as Edmonton's starter for Game 2 during yesterday's media availability by Woodcroft and has the trust from Woodcroft and the rest of his teammates in his processes to orchestrate a bounce back from Game 1.
"I have nothing but respect for Mike and his approach to the game and his ability to park a performance he'd rather have a do-over on," Woodcroft said. "For me, I think it's the same for our team. Our team has to learn some lessons that we saw in Game 1. We've addressed that and we know we'll be a little bit better here tonight."
Leon Draisaitl and Tyson Barrie did not participate in Friday's morning skate but weren't confirmed by Woodcroft as being unavailable for tonight's Battle of Alberta.
As for setting the rest of the Oilers lineup, Woodcroft called it a balancing act between selecting players who look ripe for a bounce-back performance and players who've been out of the lineup who could bring a spark.
Video: PRE-RAW | Jay Woodcroft 05.20.22
"You want to show confidence in our team and players, but at the same time understand that each game is important," he said. "We don't have a lot of time in order to wait for people to find their game, so for us, we're trying to make the best decisions possible.
"In terms of icing a lineup that suits us to win, we're confident in the people that we will dress."
Above all, Woodcroft has faith in whomever he adds to the lineup or shifts based on the platform they showed throughout the course of the season to provide meaningful contributions.
"We're at where we're at because we have a lot of really good hockey players," he said. "We came through a really grinding first-round series because we have a lot of really good hockey players; people that found ways to make contributions up and down the lineup whether they're the leading scorer of the National Hockey League or somebody who played six or seven minutes. They all found a way to impact the game and impact our team. That's why we're here.
"We're a good team and we believe in our players and we think we have a lot of really good options for us."
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com
OILERS vs. FLAMES
STREAM: 8:30 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet and CBC
Oilers Team Scope
The Oilers look to draw even with the Flames on Friday night in Game 2 of their second-round series.
On Wednesday night, the Oilers and Flames battled to the highest-ever scoring playoff game between the two teams, with the 15 total goals scored eclipsing the total from the 10-2 Edmonton victory in the 1983 Clarence Campbell Conference semi-finals.
The Oilers were able to overcome a tough start to the game which saw the Blue & Orange eventually fall behind by a 5-1 score 6:10 into the second period. Evan Bouchard picked up his first goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs off of a brilliant play and feed by Connor McDavid to begin the Oilers comeback.
Edmonton scored three consecutive goals from nearly identical spots in the left circle, with Zach Hyman picking up his third and fourth goals of the playoffs and Leon Draisaitl netting his sixth. The hat trick of tallies all beat Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom in tight on his glove hand side.
The Oilers achieved the comeback just 1:28 into the third period, when Kailer Yamamoto finished off the McDavid chance in front of Markstrom to tie the game at a 6-6 score. Unfortunately, the Flames would score the next three, including an empty-netter to pick up the Game 1 win.
McDavid continued his dominant Stanley Cup Playoffs, scoring a goal and adding three assists to push his playoff scoring race lead to six over his teammate Leon Draisaitl, with 18 points in eight games.
Flames Team Scope
The Flames had as perfect a start as a team could ask for in a Game 1 at their home rink. Calgary scored a pair of goals in the first 51 seconds off the sticks of Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane to take an early lead at Scotiabank Saddledome. The Flames continued to pile on the pressure early, with Brett Ritchie scoring the third goal just 6:05 into the first period, sending Mike Smith to the bench in favour of Mikko Koskinen.
Flames forward Blake Coleman scored his first two goals of the playoffs and Matthew Tkachuk completed a hat trick with an empty-net goal to complete the goal barrage for the Southern Alberta squad.
Jacob Markstrom struggled for the first time in the playoffs, allowing six goals on 28 Oilers shots. The Flames netminder had entered the series with a 1.53 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage prior to Wednesday night.
The nine-goal outburst on Wednesday night came in direct contrast to the Flames first-round series against the Dallas Stars. Calgary only scored 14 goals in their first seven-game post-season games prior to the Game 1 surge against Edmonton.
By The Numbers
Edmonton is 10-12 in playoff series when losing the first game... The Oilers lost the first game of their series against Los Angeles before winning the matchup in seven games... The Oilers have won every game they have scored first in the post-season and lost every game they have not... Connor McDavid already has the fifth most points by an Oilers player in a single post-season since 1992. Everyone ahead of him has played at least double his eight games... The Oilers are 0-2 when Leon Draisaitl records three points, compared to 12-2 in the regular season...
Game 1 was the first NHL playoff game to feature 15 total goals scored since the 1993 season, when the Flames lost to the Kings by an identical 9-6 score... There have only been nine NHL playoff games with 15 or more goals scored... The Flames two first-period goals set the playoff record for the fastest pair of goals scored by a team to start a playoff game... Calgary is 9-6 all-time when winning the first game of a playoff series... Wednesday's game was the fourth time in franchise history that the Flames have scored nine goals against a playoff oponnent... Johnny Gaudreau is currently on a six-game point streak, the second-longest current streak in the playoffs...
Injury Report
OILERS - Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR.
FLAMES - Chris Tanev (lower body) is day-to-day; Sean Monahan (hip) is on IR; Tyler Parsons (ankle) is on IR.
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com