PREVIEW: Oilers at Canucks (Game 2)

The Edmonton Oilers look to respond in Game 2 of their second-round series against the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night at Rogers Arena.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet & Hockey Night in Canada at 8:00 p.m. MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.

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PREVIEW: Oilers at Canucks (Game 2)

VANCOUVER, B.C. – When you build a lead like the Oilers did in Game 1 on Wednesday night, there can be a natural tendency to sit back and defend like they attempted to in the 22:43 that followed Zach Hyman’s second goal of the night that made it 4-1 over the Canucks with 6:49 left in the second period.

“When you're up a couple, it's kind of natural to want to sit back a little bit, but you can't really do that against any team at this point of the season,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “Teams will make you pay, and I think we learned that last night that we’ve got to keep our foot on the gas and keep pressing."

After trying to absorb Vancouver's consistent pressure wound up backfiring by giving up four unanswered goals in the 5-4 defeat – including three in a span of 4:45 during the final period – the Oilers will be looking to clean up their defensive details and get back to playing on the front foot with the fast and offence-focused style they know they’re capable of playing in Game 2 on Friday night at Rogers Arena.

• BLOG: Draisaitl absent on Thursday as Oilers regroup for Game 2

"Our details weren't what they should have been," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "A lot of credit to the Vancouver Canucks for playing a good game, but I don't think we played our best. There are things that we need to be better at whether we were too conservative or just lacking details in the second half of the game.

“But we know, to beat this team, we need to be better."

It will take a collective effort from the group to avoid going 2-0 down in the series heading back to Edmonton for Games 3 & 4, but they’ve proven many times – in both the regular season and playoffs – that they can rise to the occasion, learn from their mistakes and play complete hockey.

“I think in most aspects of our game, we know that we can just take another step and raise our level a little bit,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “Obviously we gave ourselves a chance to win the game, which is always a good sign. We didn't get the job done, but we know that there's another level we can get to. We expect the same from the other side, too, so we want to be sharp from the start like we were last night and continue to be good."

Nugent-Hopkins said following Thursday's practice that his side got away from what makes them successful as a team that can push the pace and generate scoring chances in different ways – including with their skill and hard forecheck that the Canucks met couldn't handle in the first half of Game 1. Their formidable blueline that boasts Nikita Zadorov, Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek combined to allow only eight shots from the Oilers across the final two periods with goaltender Arturs Silovs.

A total of 18 shots for the Oilers in Game 1 was the second-lowest of the McDavid era in Edmonton, along with the Oilers captain being held without a shot in a playoff game for the first time in his career.

"I think we're at our best when we're playing fast, we're moving the puck quick and we're establishing a forecheck and playing in the o-zone,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “It's pretty obvious that we're a good hockey team. When we play in the o-zone, we move the puck well. we take shots from the point, we go get the puck, and we kind of got away from that a little bit in the second half of the game."

Knoblauch mentioned that how they played with a 4-1 lead in Wednesday's Game 1 wasn't indicative of how they hope to continue playing in those types of winning positions, implying that Edmonton's ability to possess the puck and drive offence can play a factor in team defending.

“We want to push. We don't want to be safe,” he said. “We want to press for the next goal, but we want to do it responsibly. We do not want to sit back.”

Despite liking a lot about how they managed different moments of Game 1, the Oilers want to get back to the high level of defending that allowed them to excel over the regular season at protecting leads – a backbone of their 46-18-5 second-half resurgence under Head Coach Kris Knoblauch.

Thursday night had its moments, but they believe they can do a lot better at an individual level of keeping preventable goals down. Two of Vancouver's five goals on Wednesday came off bad bounces, with another being a redirection while both Zadorov's tying effort and Conor Garland's game-winning tally just 35 seconds apart were both well-taken to complete the comeback for the Canucks.

"I thought we were pretty intense," defenceman Vincent Desharnais said. "I think we just we got away from small details, small stick details, getting in shooting lanes and I think our forecheck can be a lot better as a unit of five and not disconnected. I think we can play a little bit faster, as well. That's our strength. We have a very fast team and I thought at times we were caught up a little bit being flat-footed and not moving the puck fast enough.

"But there's no panic in here. I think we know what to adjust, and we'll do it and be ready for tomorrow night."