Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz: Oilers must bounce back at home vs. Avalanche

Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz, a daily in-depth look at the 2022 NHL postseason. There is one playoff game scheduled for Saturday, the 34th day of the postseason.

#

On tap

Colorado Avalanche at Edmonton Oilers (8 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS)
The Oilers will host their first conference final game in 16 years knowing they'll need to win or fall behind 3-0 in the best-of-7 series. The Avalanche are 5-0 on the road during the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs and have shown a penchant of not being intimidated by raucous crowds like the one they'll be playing in front of at Rogers Place on Saturday. Edmonton has been outscored 12-6 in Games 1 and 2 and must tighten up defensively if it hopes to get back into the series. The time to regroup is now.

#

What we learned

Rangers don't need the power play to win
In Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final, the New York Rangers showed the Tampa Bay Lightning they can prevail without help from their power play. Friday marked the first time this postseason the Rangers have won when going scoreless on the man-advantage. The Rangers had scored on the power play in six straight games and in 11 of their first 15, but they were 0-for-4 in Game 2 and it did not deter them in a 3-2 win at Madison Square Garden to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. Defenseman K'Andre Miller, forward Kaapo Kakko and center Mika Zibanejad each scored at even strength for New York. Forward Nikita Kucherov scored on the power play to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead 1:40 into the game, but it did not get another man-advantage opportunity. It's not as if the Rangers' power play were struggling in Game 2; they had nine shots with the man-advantage and some scoring chances, but the puck just didn't go into the net. In previous playoff games, when its power play wasn't clicking, New York's offense sputtered; it scored seven goals in the previous four games it didn't have a power-play goal, one in the past two (in Games 1 and 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round). The Rangers' offense, for the most part, has been built on the power play. In Game 2 it wasn't, and the final result says that's not a problem at all. -- Dan Rosen, senior writer
Lightning must shift into higher gear
Tampa Bay hasn't been able to keep up with or slow New York's speed in the first two games of this series. If the Lightning can't find a way to do that in Game 3 at Amalie Arena on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS), they likely will fall short in their quest of winning the Stanley Cup for the third consecutive season. Tampa Bay played its defensive structure to near perfection during a second-round sweep of the Florida Panthers, allowing a total of three goals. But it hasn't been able to avoid the turnovers that fuel New York's offense and speed game. The Lightning hope returning home and the late momentum they generated to pull within a goal late in Game 2 will carry over to Game 3. -- Tom Gulitti, Staff Writer

#

About Last Night

New York Rangers 3, Tampa Bay Lightning 2
Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves to help the Rangers extended their series lead. Shesterkin's heroics helped New York snap Tampa Bay's streak of 17 straight postseason wins following a loss since the beginning of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Lightning made a late push and outshot the Rangers 14-6 in the third period but could not come up with the tying goal. New York has won eight consecutive postseason games on home ice and now hit the road, where Tampa Bay coach John Cooper will have the last change for Games 3 and 4. The Rangers have scored 15 goals in the past three games dating back to their 6-2 win at the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 7 of the second round, so Cooper will have to use the advantage for better matchups in hopes of reversing that trend.