3 Keys: Golden Knights at Oilers, Game 3 of Western 2nd Round

(1P) Golden Knights at (2P) Oilers

Western Conference Second Round, Game 3

Best-of-7 series tied 1-1

8:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS

EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers wrested home-ice advantage away from the Vegas Golden Knights and will try to maintain it in Game 3 at Rogers Place on Monday.

Edmonton evened the best-of-7 series with a 5-1 win against Vegas in Game 2 at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has scored six goals through the first two games of the series, and an NHL-high 13 so far during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Draisaitl's 13 goals are the most through eight games of the playoffs since Jari Kurri scored 13 for the Oilers in 1985. The NHL record for goals through eight games was set by Newsy Lalonde, who scored 15 for the Montreal Canadiens in 1919. Kurri (1985) and Reggie Leach of the Philadelphia Flyers (1976) share the NHL record for most goals in a single playoff year with 19.

"I've been on these (rolls) before," Draisaitl said Monday. "I'm playing my game and not overthinking it. I'm just trying to do my part to help this team win. Some nights it works better than others and lately it has been working and hopefully it stays that way."

The Oilers are 5-for-9 (55.6 percent) on the power play against the Golden Knights and 14-for-25 (56.0 percent) during the playoffs. Draisaitl leads all players with six power-play goals.

"I think power plays sometimes tend to get stagnant and slow-moving and that's when it's predictable, you know where everyone's standing," Draisaitl said. "I think that's what makes our power play so dangerous, is that we have guys that can play in every situation and in every spot and we take big pride in that."

RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Oilers series coverage]

The Golden Knights allowed five power-play goals in their five-game series win against the Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference First Round.

"We have to build a little bit more momentum and have a better start to the game and be more disciplined," Golden Knights captain Mark Stone said. "I think we got a little carried away and frustrated early on in the first (in Game 2) and we just have to stick to our game plan and have a good mindset."

Teams that win Game 3 when a best-of-7 series is tied 1-1 hold an all-time series record of 233-119 (.662), including a 2-4 record (.333) in 2023.

Here are 3 keys for Game 3:

1. Stay out of the penalty box

It has been a consistent theme for Oilers opponents through the playoffs. Since the NHL began tracking power plays in 1977-78, Edmonton had the best power play in the history of the NHL during the regular season at 32.4 percent, and it has been even better during the playoffs.

The Golden Knights play a physical, hard forechecking style but got into trouble with two early penalties in Game 2. The Oilers scored on both power plays to take a 2-0 lead 7:01 into the game.

"Some of the infractions we took the other day were high-sticking, and they were puck battles and your stick comes up," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "You have to be hard on your stick against this team, and I think they would say the same about us. We've been a very good team this year checking with our feet and our legs and we didn't take a lot of penalties, and the last game was the exception."

2. Puck possession

The Oilers felt they did not manage the puck well enough in Game 1, giving the Golden Knights too many opportunities in transition, which led to Vegas' 6-4 victory.

Edmonton was better keeping the puck in Game 2, which led to its 5-0 lead through two periods.

The Oilers want to make the Golden Knights travel the length of the ice against them, and then not turn the puck over in the neutral zone when they have it.

"I think a big part of it as well were our gaps, we were a lot tighter as a five-man unit," Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. "We were too spread out in the first game and gave them easy access to our zone. We made them defend a lot more and we made them dump the puck in situations where maybe they don't want to do it and we were able to retrieve it with more time on our hands."

3. Making the most of scoring opportunities

The Oilers and Golden Knights each play a high-pressure, attacking style and are comfortable trading chances. The teams combined for 32 goals in four games during the regular season and 16 through the first two games of the series. Neither team wants to deviate from its style of play during the regular season and a determining factor in Game 3 will be who makes the most of its scoring opportunities.

"I think we've outscored them 5-on-5 (6-3), so we're doing something right 5-on-5," Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "I think both teams will say the same thing, stick to your game but do it better, and try to adjust to what the other team does. You're not going to completely change the way you play in the playoffs. There is a reason why we got here and there's a reason why they got here. Just do what you've done all year, just find a way to do it better and make adjustments as you go."

Golden Knights projected lineup

Ivan Barbashev -- Jack Eichel -- Jonathan Marchessault

Reilly Smith -- William Karlsson -- Michael Amadio

Brett Howden -- Chandler Stephenson -- Mark Stone

William Carrier -- Nicolas Roy -- Keegan Kolesar

Alec Martinez -- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague -- Zach Whitecloud

Laurent Brossoit

Adin Hill

Scratched:Paul Cotter, Kaedan Korczak, Brayden Pachal, Teddy Blueger, Ben Hutton, Jonathan Quick, Phil Kessel

Injured:Logan Thompson (undisclosed)

Oilers projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Connor McDavid -- Leon Draisaitl

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Nick Bjugstad -- Zach Hyman

Warren Foegele -- Ryan McLeod -- Derek Ryan

Klim Kostin -- Kailer Yamamoto

Darnell Nurse -- Cody Ceci

Mattias Ekholm -- Evan Bouchard

Brett Kulak -- Vincent Desharnais

Philip Broberg

Stuart Skinner

Jack Campbell

Scratched:Devin Shore

Injured:Mattias Janmark (upper body), Ryan Murray (back)

Status report

Brossoit will start after being replaced by Hill for the third period in Game 2 ... The Oilers are going with the same 11 forwards and seven defenseman they have used since the injury to Janmark, a forward, in Game 1.

NHL.com independent correspondent Gerry Moddejonge contributed to this report