3 Keys: Blackhawks vs. Oilers, Game 3 of Cup Qualifiers

No. 5 Oilers vs. No. 12 Blackhawks

10:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, NBCSCH

Best-of-5 series tied, 1-1

Mikko Koskinen will make his second consecutive start in goal for the Edmonton Oilers when they play the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Wednesday.

Koskinen made 23 saves for his first NHL postseason win, a 6-3 victory in Game 2 on Monday in Edmonton, the Western Conference hub city. Koskinen's previous postseason experience came in the Kontinental Hockey League; he went 50-24 with a 1.64 goals-against average and .938 save percentage in 77 playoff games and helped SKA St. Petersburg win the KHL championship in 2015 and 2017.

"First, it was big game for the team, we really needed it to get back in the series," Koskinen said Tuesday. "Of course it's a different situation (in the KHL). You can't compare because you never really played without fans. It's new situation for everyone, but the same for all."

Teams that win Game 3 after a series is tied 1-1 are 21-7 (75 percent) winning a best-of-5 NHL series (14-2 when last used from 1980-86).

Here are 3 keys to Game 3:

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1. Avoiding the chase

The Blackhawks trailed 2-0 in Game 2 after Connor McDavid scored twice in the first 4:05 of the first period, and it forced them to roll three forward lines instead of four and chase the rest of the game.

"It's tough (chasing) against any team, but especially them," Chicago rookie forward Kirby Dach said after the game. "They have so much talent up front. We let up a couple of goals in the first few minutes. Those are things we have to tighten up the next game or it's going to be a short series."

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2. Strong penalty kill

The Oilers penalty kill, which was second in the NHL during the regular season at 84.4 percent (San Jose Sharks, 85.7), was 4-for-4 in Game 2.

"Whenever our PK can come up huge like that, it really gets us going," defenseman Ethan Bear said. "It helps us build our game. Special teams is huge in the playoffs, so we just have to keep working hard."

Bear tied Darnell Nurse for the Edmonton lead with 4:51 of shorthanded ice time in Game 2.

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3. Better team defense

Chicago goalie Corey Crawford allowed six goals on 35 shots in Game 2, but the Blackhawks said it wasn't all his fault.

"We didn't really give him much help," forward Patrick Kane said. "We have all the confidence in the world in [Crawford]. He's never a worry in our mind. We gave them too many chances and they have a lot of offensive players who will capitalize. We'll try to be better defensively. We're happy we've got the opportunity here, so I think we'll bounce back and have a better game in Game 3."

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Oilers projected lineup

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Connor McDavid -- Josh Archibald

Tyler Ennis -- Leon Draisaitl -- Kailer Yamamoto

Andreas Athanasiou -- Riley Sheahan -- Zack Kassian

James Neal -- Jujhar Khaira -- Alex Chiasson

Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson

Darnell Nurse -- Ethan Bear

Kris Russell -- Matt Benning

Mikko Koskinen

Mike Smith

Scratched:Tyler Benson, Cooper Marody, Gaetan Haas, Ryan McLeod, Evan Bouchard, William Lagesson, Philip Broberg, Joakim Nygard, Patrick Russell, Caleb Jones, Stuart Skinner

Unfit to play:None

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Blackhawks projected lineup

Dominik Kubalik -- Jonathan Toews -- Brandon Saad

Alex DeBrincat -- Dylan Strome -- Patrick Kane

Alex Nylander -- Kirby Dach -- Drake Caggiula

Matthew Highmore -- David Kampf -- Ryan Carpenter

Duncan Keith -- Adam Boqvist

Calvin de Haan -- Connor Murphy

Olli Maatta -- Slater Koekkoek

Corey Crawford

Malcolm Subban

Scratched:Collin Delia, MacKenzie Entwistle, Brandon Hagel, John Quenneville, Dylan Sikura, Philipp Kurashev, Nicolas Beaudin, Lucas Carlsson, Alec Regula, Nick Seeler, Kevin Lankinen

Unfit to play:None

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Status report

Caggiula is expected to play after serving a one-game suspension from the NHL Department of Player Safety for an illegal check to the head of Ennis during Game 1 on Saturday. He would replace Sikura in the Blackhawks lineup.