(1P) CANUCKS AT (2P) OILERS
Western Conference Second Round, Game 3
Best-of-7 series tied 1-1
9:30 p.m. TVAS, SN, SN1, TBS, truTV, MAX
EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers will look to make the most of their home-ice advantage against the Vancouver Canucks in Game 3 of the Western Conference Second Round on Sunday.
Edmonton is 2-1 at home in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Vancouver is 3-0 on the road. The Oilers are expecting an energetic welcome back at Rogers Place after splitting the first two games at a loud Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
"When it's that loud, you definitely notice it," Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "We notice it at home, we felt it and heard it in Vancouver and for us it makes it more fun to play in an atmosphere like that. It's more fun in Edmonton when they're behind you, but the loud crowd [in Vancouver], we definitely enjoyed it."
The Canucks won both their games in Edmonton during the regular season but know their first road game against the Oilers in the playoffs will be different.
"Being at home when you start to gain momentum, the crowd is definitely a huge part of that," Vancouver defenseman Tyler Myers said. "There are going to be times when they'll be having a good shift and the crowd will be amplifying it that much more, but you have to stay calm and relax and defend the same way we've done all year and try to swing [the momentum]."
Here are 3 keys for Game 3:
1. Road warriors
The Canucks went into Bridgestone Arena and won all three games against the Nashville Predators in the opening round. They were 23-14-4 on the road this season.
"We're a good road team, we can play on the road and have some good resolve," Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said. "I think you can play a low-scoring game or if we need some goals, we've gone on the road where we had to score some goals. I think we have a good sample size where we can feel comfortable playing on the road."
The Oilers will have last change and can get the line matchups they prefer. Coach Kris Knoblauch would not disclose whether Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will play on the same line with right wing Zach Hyman.
Tocchet said the Canucks are equipped to handle the Oilers' top line regardless of the matchup.
"That's why we went and got 'Lindy' (Elias Lindholm)," he said. "We have four good centers. That helps when you're on the road and you have mismatches, having that four-center rotation."
2. Power play puck retrieval
The Oilers have the best power play in the playoffs (45.8 percent, 11-for-24 in seven games). With McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman, Nugent-Hopkins and defenseman Evan Bouchard on the top unit, they can make the puck dance when it has time. An underrated aspect of the power play is the ability to win loose-puck battles and keep possession in the opposing zone.
"It kind of goes back to our mindset of work first and we'll make plays off that," Nugent-Hopkins said. "A lot of times you have to go get the puck. If you lose the face-off, you have to go get it and make a play off of that, and that's always our mindset."
Edmonton's power play is 2-for-4 against Vancouver. Hyman scored on its lone opportunity in Game 1, and Draisaitl scored in Game 2 on a feed from McDavid. The Oilers were able to retrieve the puck multiple times in the offensive zone before scoring with 27 seconds left on a hooking penalty to Myers.
"When you strip a guy or outman a guy and all of a sudden you get the puck, a lot of times something is open off of that," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We know that and sometimes it's about being patient, but there are definitely times to strike, and I think we've found a good balance so far."
3. Stick to the system
The Canucks have been aggressive, in contrast to how the Los Angeles Kings tried to slow down the Oilers in the first round. Edmonton must be aware of Vancouver's forecheck and counter it accordingly.
"They have good speed and they got physical players," Oilers defenseman Brett Kulak said. "For us, it's about getting back and making that first play and moving it up to our forwards quickly and not letting them gain too much momentum off the forecheck."
Both teams are very good cycling the puck in the offensive zone and dangerous on the rush.
"I think we've done a great job in the playoffs so far of not opening the game up," Myers said. "I think there's times where we can attack more and sustain more [offensive]-zone time, but we're not deviating from the game plan for the most part. We're staying pretty consistent with it, and I think that's helped us out a lot."
Canucks projected lineup
Pius Suter -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser
Linus Karlsson -- Elias Pettersson -- Ilya Mikheyev
Dakota Joshua -- Elias Lindholm -- Conor Garland
Nils Aman -- Teddy Blueger -- Sam Lafferty
Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek
Carson Soucy -- Tyler Myers
Nikita Zadorov -- Ian Cole
Arturs Silovs
Casey DeSmith
Scratched: Mark Friedman, Phillip Di Giuseppe, Noah Juulsen, Christian Wolanin
Injured: Thatcher Demko (undisclosed), Nils Hoglander (undisclosed)
Oilers projected lineup
Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Zach Hyman
Warren Foegele -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Evander Kane
Dylan Holloway -- Ryan McLeod -- Corey Perry
Mattias Janmark -- Derek Ryan -- Connor Brown
Mattias Ekholm -- Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse -- Cody Ceci
Brett Kulak -- Vincent Desharnais
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Sam Carrick, Sam Gagner, Troy Stecher
Injured: Adam Henrique (lower body)
Status report
Karlsson may replace Hoglander, but Tocchet said a decision has not been made. ... Aman replaces Di Giuseppe on the fourth line. ... Brown is in for Henrique, a forward who played Game 2 after missing the opener.
NHL.com independent correspondent Gerry Moddejonge contributed to this report
