Flames look to tighten up defense in Game 4 against Oilers
Calgary, which was third in goals against in regular season, has struggled to contain McDavid
But through three games of the first Battle of Alberta playoff series in 31 years, that has not been the case.
The Oilers have been able to open the floodgates on the Flames, scoring 15 goals while creating multiple problems for Jacob Markstrom, a finalist for the Vezina Trophy voted as the NHL's best goalie this season.
As a result, Edmonton leads the best-of-7 series 2-1 heading into Game 4 at Rogers Place on Tuesday (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, TVAS, SN).
Edmonton's charge has been led by captain Connor McDavid, who led the NHL with 123 points (44 goals, 79 assists) in 80 regular-season games. McDavid has nine points (two goals, seven assists) this series and an NHL-leading 23 (six goals, 17 assists) in 10 games in the playoffs.
"Maybe our focus has been a little bit too much on the Oilers and we've kind of started playing their game a little bit more than we've wanted to play our game," Flames forward Milan Lucic said on Monday. "You have to give them credit as well. They've played really well in these first three games, so all our energy and focus has to go into finding our game, and when we do that, we give yourselves a really good chance to win."
Calgary was the third-best defensive team in the NHL this season, allowing 2.51 goals per game. Edmonton was 18th at 3.06.
But after allowing nine in a 9-6 loss in Game 1, the Oilers have allowed just four in the past two games.
"When we get to our game and play our game, especially against a guy like Connor and the Oilers, well, if you want to out-skill them and out-score them, good luck," Lucic said. "Give up four-plus goals in the first three games, that's not a very good trade, especially that we were the [third-best] defensive team in the league this year. So we've just got to focus on what we need to do as a group and what our foundation is and what our identity is in order to get it to our game."
The result of straying from that game has been some unflattering numbers for Markstrom, who was pulled after 40 minutes in Game 3, having allowed four goals on 34 shots in Edmonton's 4-1 win.
Markstrom is 1-2 in the series with a 5.74 goals-against average and .853 save precentage.
At the other end of the ice, Oilers starter Mike Smith has recovered after allowing three goals on 10 shots in the first 6:05 of Game 1.
Although he allowed three goals on the first 15 shots in Game 2, a game the Oilers rallied to win 5-3, Smith has stopped 57 of the past 58 shots he's faced.
"That's 'Smitty' for you, right?" said Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, who had four assists in Game 3. "He's done that probably all his life, all his career. Probably a lot of people doubted him at one point this season or the season before, and he always comes back and he's always great and he always shows up the next game and has a big, big bounce-back game.
"That's a huge quality to have. That's a fighter right there. And Smitty obviously has a lot of swagger to him, a lot of pride in him. So we've very lucky to have him back there."
Smith, who is 2-0 in the series with a 3.45 GAA and .916 save percentage, will start his 11th straight playoff game Tuesday. The last time he started 11 straight NHL games was in 2016-17 for the Arizona Coyotes.
The 40-year-old has said multiple times in the past week that he's far less concerned about what's happened in the past, recent or not, and that he's far more focused on what's ahead.
He said the Oilers want to show they remember the first round, when they went ahead 2-1 in the series against the Los Angeles Kings but lost 4-0 in Game 4. They eventually eliminated the Kings in seven games.
"I think we learned a valuable lesson last series when we got up 2-1," Smith said. "We probably played our worst game in Game 4. We want to learn a lesson from that and not let it happen again and keep doing what we are doing in [Game 3] and keep pushing this thing forward."
The Flames are also trying to draw a lesson from the first round, when they trailed the Dallas Stars 2-1 after three games but adjusted and rallied to win in seven.
Associate coach Kirk Muller said that Calgary is not dwelling on any one element of its game, including goaltending.
"It's all connected," Muller said. "When we're playing our best, we're playing well without the puck and it's all connected. We play the right way. We work together. We just have to get back to that level. We've always done a good job this year of responding. We will tweak some things today and get ready for that game tomorrow."
Muller said the quality of their defensive game and their goaltending will return when the Flames focus on what they do best.
"It's important that we dial in with our team," he said. "That's been the strength of our hockey team all year, our identity of working together, in fives, and everyone doing their part and everyone being responsible for their roles when they're on the ice. We have to step back, use today. We'll work with the coaches and players and basically realize that we've done it all year and it's not about the opponent you play, it's about what we do.
"We're going to dial in on the strengths of our hockey club."
