2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Flames vs. Oilers second-round preview

The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs features eight teams in four best-of-7 series, which start Tuesday.
Today, NHL.com previews the Western Conference Second Round between the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers.

(1P) Calgary Flames vs. (2P) Edmonton Oilers

Flames: 50-21-11, 111 points; defeated Dallas Stars 4-3 in first round
Oilers:49-27-6, 104 points; defeated Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in first round
Season series:CGY 2-2-0; EDM 2-2-0
Game 1:Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, TVAS, SN)
The much-ballyhooed Battle of Alberta is set as the Calgary Flames will face the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Edmonton and Calgary advanced after each eliminated its first-round opponent in seven games. The Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 on Saturday; the Flames defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2 in overtime on Sunday.
"I think the entire province is excited about it," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. "Obviously, there's a rivalry between the two cities that goes back multiple years, and not just in the sport of hockey. Everyone's excited about that. For us, what I see is two good hockey teams that are going to get the opportunity to compete to head to the third round of the playoffs. While everybody's excited, we're getting down to work and trying to prepare for a really good hockey team."
This is the sixth time the Oilers and Flames have met in the playoffs. The Oilers have won four of five series, the most recent when Edmonton defeated Calgary in seven games in the 1991 Smythe Division Semifinals. The Flames' lone series win was in the 1986 Smythe Division Finals, also in Game 7.
"Pretty lucky that two Canadian teams (are) still playing. Being from Alberta I think we've got like six generations of us now for the two teams. Pretty unique," said Flames coach Darryl Sutter, who is from Viking, Alberta.
RELATED: [Complete Flames vs. Oilers series coverage]
The Flames and Oilers split four games during the regular season.
Flames forwards Matthew Tkachuk (three goals, five assists) and Johnny Gaudreau (one goal, seven assists) each had eight points in four games against the Oilers. Goalie Jacob Markstrom was 2-2-0 with a 3.54 GAA and .884 save percentage.
Calgary defenseman Chris Tanev did not play in Game 7 against Dallas due to an undisclosed injury. His status for Game 1 is unknown.
Forward Leon Draisaitl led Edmonton with 11 points (five goals, six assists) against Calgary, and forward Connor McDavid was next with seven (three goals, four assists). Goaltender Mike Smith was 1-1-0 with a 3.81 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in two games (one start), and Mikko Koskinen was 1-1-0 with a 4.61 GAA and .875 save percentage in three starts.
Draisaitl played Game 7 despite not participating in the morning skate prior to it. He was one of several Oilers who did not practice Monday. When asked how he is doing by reporters, Woodcroft said Draisaitl is "very good," but there was no mention of his Game 1 status.

Game breakers

Flames:It took a little time for Gaudreau to get going in the first round against the Stars, but once he did, he was outstanding. He led the Flames with eight points (two goals, six assists) in seven games, including the game- and series-clinching goal 15:09 into overtime on Sunday. Gaudreau, who can become an unrestricted free agent this summer, is the motor that drives the Flames and he's hitting his form at the perfect time.
Oilers:No surprise here that it's McDavid. After leading the NHL with 123 points (44 goals, 79 assists) in 80 regular-season games, he was tremendous against the Kings and leads the NHL this postseason with 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in seven games. He had at least two points in the final three games against Los Angeles, including three points (one goal, two assists) in Games 5 and 6. McDavid has 36 points (15 goals, 21 assists) in 28 career playoff games.

Goaltending

Flames: Markstrom reminded everyone why he's a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the best goalie in the NHL, in the first round. He was 4-3 with a 1.53 goals-against average, .943 save percentage and one shutout in seven starts against the Stars. That's after a regular season in which he had an NHL-leading nine shutouts.
Oilers:Smith, who played two seasons with the Flames from 2017-19, enters this series against his former team playing well. The 40-year-old was 4-3 with a 2.29 GAA, .938 save percentage and two shutouts, the second coming when he made 29 saves in a 2-0 win against Los Angeles in Game 7. Among goalies who have played at least 10 career playoff games, Smith's save percentage of .932 is second to former Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas (.933).

Numbers to know

Flames:91.7 penalty-kill percentage, third in the NHL to the Washington Capitals (100 percent), who were eliminated by the Florida Panthers in six games, and the Stars (91.7). The Flames allowed two power-play goals in 24 times shorthanded in the first round.
Oilers:36.8 power-play percentage after going 7-for-19 in the first round. That's good for second in the NHL this postseason behind the Colorado Avalanche (43.8 percent), who swept the Nashville Predators in four games to advance to the second round.

X-factors

Flames:Elias Lindholm, the center of the top forward line with left wing Gaudreau and right wing Tkachuk, had a nice first round. Lindholm had five points (three goals, two assists) in seven games, third on the Flames behind Gaudreau with eight points and Tkachuk with six (one goal, five assists). Lindholm was tied for the team lead in goals with forward Mikael Backlund.

Oilers: Zack Kassian. The forward had two points (one goal, one assist) in seven games against the Kings and was double-shifted in Games 6 and 7. The Flames showed their physical side against the Stars and if that's true of the second round as well, Kassian will be one player expected to counter it.

They said it

"I mean, I've been here for nine years and never had even a sniff of a chance to play them in the playoffs. It's pretty special and it'll be a lot of fun. It's going to be good for the province. It's going to be fun for them, for us. It's going to be a pretty cool series." -- Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau
"Calgary's the best team in our division this year, a lot of firepower, they play connected and we're going to have to bring our A-game to beat them in four games, not in four games but for four games. I like the way we finished the series against [Los Angeles], I thought we played one of our best games of the series in Game 7. Hopefully we can carry that momentum into the second round. -- Oilers goalie Mike Smith

Will win if…

Flames:They can get a little more offense for Markstrom. He did his job in the first round, but scoring a few more goals for their goalie wouldn't hurt. Calgary was hit-and-miss on that front in the first round, and a lot of credit for that goes to Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger, who made life difficult throughout the series. The Flames will see if they can produce a little more against the Oilers, who allowed 2.43 goals per game in the first round.
Oilers: If they can keep up their productive ways. Edmonton averaged 3.86 goals per game in the first round, fourth behind Colorado (5.25), the Pittsburgh Penguins (4.14) and New York Rangers (4.00). Obviously that offense goes through McDavid and Draisaitl, but if a few other guys can chip in, the Oilers won't mind.

How they look

Flames projected lineup
Johnny Gaudreau -- Elias Lindholm -- Matthew Tkachuk
Andrew Mangiapane -- Mikael Backlund -- Tyler Toffoli
Dillon Dube -- Calle Jarnkrok -- Blake Coleman
Milan Lucic -- Trevor Lewis -- Brett Ritchie
Noah Hanifin -- Rasmus Andersson
Oliver Kylington -- Michael Stone
Nikita Zadorov -- Erik Gudbranson
Jacob Markstrom
Dan Vladar
Scratched: Adam Ruzicka, Ryan Carpenter, Connor MackeyInjured:Christopher Tanev
Oilers projected lineup
Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Kailer Yamamoto
Evander Kane -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Zach Hyman
Josh Archibald -- Ryan McLeod -- Jesse Puljujarvi
Warren Foegele -- Derek Ryan -- Zack Kassian
Darnell Nurse -- Cody Ceci
Duncan Keith -- Evan Bouchard
Brett Kulak -- Tyson Barrie
Mike Smith
Mikko Koskinen
Scratched: Philip Broberg, Devin Shore, Derick Brassard, Kris Russell, Olivier Rodrigue
Injured: None