They were all accurate.
"We've got to win a game, plain and simple," the forward said Wednesday. "Our backs are against the wall. In the corner, up against the ropes. It's up to us to see what we're made of and go out there and play our game for 60-plus minutes, if that's what it takes, to give ourselves a chance to stay alive."
The Flames trail 3-1 in the best-of-7 series heading into Game 5 at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday (9:30 pm ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS). They won Game 1 but have lost the past three.
Coach Darryl Sutter said in order to end the skid and extend the series, Calgary needs to draw on its success from the regular season, when it went 50-21-11 and won the Pacific Division.
"You're down to seven teams still playing out of 32, so it's a whole different level," Sutter said. "That pressure of it and that bull's-eye part of it is way, way higher up than at any point during the season. But what you take from your season, or if you're out of a round and into the next one, then you take those things and you use them, and then see how the player actually handles it."
The Flames have not advanced past the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2004, when they reached the Stanley Cup Final, losing in seven games to the Tampa Bay Lightning. To advance this season, they will have to win three games in a row, but Lucic said that cannot be their approach.
"I think mentally that's where you can get yourself in trouble, if you look at it like, 'Oh, we've got to win three games,'" Lucic said. "In order to win three games, you've got to win one game. You've got to start off by winning one game.
"That's something we've got to do tomorrow. We've been a good home team all year long. We've got to rely on our home game and how we've played at home and rely on our fans coming and cheering us on and having our backs and going from there."
The Flames, who went 25-9-7 in Calgary during the regular season, are 4-2 at home this postseason, including a Game 7 victory against the Dallas Stars in the first round. They have never rallied from 3-1 in a best-of-7 series in their history, losing all nine series when faced with the situation, including six when starting the series at home.
The Oilers are 14-1 in series in which they have led 3-1.
"There's momentum swings throughout a series whether you're up or you're down," Lucic said. "I've been up 3-0 in a series and lost. Been up 3-1 in a series and had to play a Game 7. Been down 0-2, down 3-1, only twice. When your backs are against the wall, your desperation goes up and you see what your team is really made of. That's something all our energy and all our focus has to go into."
Lucic said the Flames should use the 3-2 overtime win in Game 7 against Dallas, when they had 67 shots on goal, as an example of how they can play when facing elimination.
"That was a do-or-die game," Lucic said. "We're going to need the same desperation that we had in that Game 7 against Dallas. What I said before that game is you need big plays from big-time players.
"That's what we're going to need tomorrow."
