PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers vs. Avalanche (Game 3)

The Edmonton Oilers return to home ice on Saturday night for Game 3 of the Western Conference Final against the Colorado Avalanche.
After dropping Games 1 & 2 at Ball Arena, the Oilers look to leverage the home crowd and fight their way back into the best-of-seven series.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet & CBC or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630CHED, at 6:00pm MT.
Video: OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game 3 vs COL 06.04.2

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS
GAME DAY VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game 3 vs. COL
PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft
PRE-GAME RAW | Evander Kane
PRE-GAME RAW | Connor McDavid
PRE-GAME RAW | Zack Kassian
RECENT VIDEOS
RAW | Coach Jay Woodcroft 06.03.22
RAW | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 06.03.22
RAW | Leon Draisaitl 06.03.22
OILERS TODAY | Post-Game 2 at COL
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RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
BLOG: Oilers ready for a roaring Rogers Place
BLOG: Friday's travel day back to Edmonton

VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Saturday's game on Sportsnet & CBC at 6:00pm MT.
News and notes from the Oilers travel day media availability on Friday, where players and Coach Woodcroft spoke about finding their best game and returning to play within the energy of Ice District on Saturday night.
**>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG**
EDMONTON, AB - While it's not do or die once the puck drops at Rogers Place tonight, it's about as close to that as you can get.
Trailing 2-0 to the Colorado Avalanche, the Oilers need to avoid finding themselves in a position where they need to win four straight against the Western Conference's regular-season point leaders.
"I know people just say it's another game, but it really isn't," Zack Kassian said. "Our season is on the line and it's important to not go down 0-3 against a good hockey team over there. There are moments you embrace as a player, they're fun, and we have to all be dialled in tonight."
The Oilers know that the performances in Denver weren't up to the level needed to knock off a dynamic and deep Avalanche team. The added sense of urgency is being felt in the Edmonton locker room. Luckily for the Oilers, they have been in difficult situations in both the post-season and the regular season and know the blueprint to get their game back on track.
"It's obviously an important game, you can't find yourself down three in a series so I have to find a way to get a win tonight," Connor McDavid said. "We've done a lot to respond in these situations and I'd expect the same thing tonight."
Video: PRE-RAW | Evander Kane 06.04.22
ZACK UP ON THE ATTACK
One change from the morning skate was the appearance of Zack Kassian on the top line with Connor McDavid and Evander Kane. With Kailer Yamamoto not on the ice, there could be a vacancy in the Oilers top six for tonight's game. However, Head Coach Jay Woodcroft wasn't willing to tip his hand with so much on the line in Saturday night's Game 3.
"We'll see. I think Zack has had a good playoffs," The Oilers coach said. "He plays physical and we'll see what the lineups present tonight."
The burly Oilers forward has played in all 14 games so far during the post-season but would be seeing the ice a fair amount more if he's saddled next to the playoff's leading goal scorer and leading point-getter.
"Nothing's guaranteed, but if you get a chance to ride shotgun next to the best player in the world you have to take advantage of it," Kassian said. "We've had some success before and tonight's a big game for our hockey club, individually and collectively. As a group, we have to be at our best to get this one at home."
Video: PRE-RAW | Zack Kassian 06.04.22
Coach Woodcroft has shown a willingness to shuffle the deck with the line-up when he feels it is necessary. The ability to move players and find success is part of the chess game that the Oilers head coach thrives on.
"We don't want to be prisoner or beholden to something to something that was decided beforehand. We want to use our eyes and we want to make decisions on the real-time information that our players are giving us," Woodcroft said. "We've shown a level of flexibility in games, between games, and with different looks that we can bring. The best news out of all of that is we've found ways to win with all those different combinations and alignments."
Another reason you could see Kassian elevated to top-line duty is the Oilers need for a bit more physicality. Colorado's mobile defence core has helped the Avalanche thrive in transition. The desire to get pucks deeper, work the cycle and slow down the game could help turn the play back into the Oilers favour.
"Any time you have the opportunity to finish a check you want to. Physicality is a way to take some steam out of people," Woodcroft said. "We've had good opportunities to get our licks in, but the important thing is you want to make sure you're not beat back up the ice. Those would be focal points for us."
US OR THEM
The Oilers Western Conference Final series was always going to be a battle, especially when going up against an opponent that is the calibre of the Colorado Avalanche. The challenge for Edmonton tonight is to not only match, but to surpass the level their opponents have shown thus far.
"They're a good team. We've said that lots, we're a good team and I don't think we've played our best yet," McDavid said. "Three games in here, I'd expect to see it tonight. We have to play up our level."
Video: PRE-RAW | Connor McDavid 06.04.22
The Oilers have shown they can play with the Avalanche in the regular season, and at times, the post-season as well. Edmonton did not lose to Colorado in regulation during the season and has shown flashes in Games 1 & 2 that they can control the pace of play against the Western Conference powerhouse. When an opponent is playing at such a high level it can be tough to decipher how much of the series' early results are the result of internal or external forces.
"That is the question, right? As a coaching staff when you review games, you review what's happening. We're making sure that we're doing our work in order to see things clearly. We ask ourselves the question, is it us or is it them," Woodcroft said. "We feel that while the other team is doing some good stuff, we haven't got to our game yet. There are some things we can do better individually and collectively."
Given their successes at times in the series, the Oilers at least have foundations to build on when looking to turn the tide in Game 3.
"You have to give the other team some credit too, they've done a really good job of countering what we want to do," Evander Kane said. "After that first 15 minutes of the first period, we didn't get much at their net. We have to get more pucks and bodies towards their end. When we do play down there we seem to have success, we just have to get down there more often."
OIL COUNTRY
One area where the Oilers will have the advantage in Game 3 is in crowd support. Rogers Place is ready to host its first-ever Western Conference final game for the Blue & Orange, and Edmonton is ready to use the fan excitement to their advantage.
"We're a confident group. We're back in Wildrose country in front of the best fans in the world. In an energetic building that our players feed off," Woodcroft said. "We're here to win a hockey game tonight."
Video: PRE-RAW | Jay Woodcroft 06.04.22
The Oilers know they must raise their game to match the level put forth by the Avalanche in the series' first two games. There is also the knowledge that the Oilers faithful will also raise their level on Saturday night.
"It seems like they get louder and louder each round so we're expecting them to be really loud tonight. It's important for us to channel that energy into good energy and make sure we're playing the right way," Kassian said. "There's no secret if we play the right way and we get off to a good start it's a hard building to play in especially when the fans get involved."
It's difficult to describe the impact fans can have on a game. Now that the Stanley Cup Playoffs are underway, every building the Oilers play in will be loud - home and away. There is just something a little different when the cheers and jeers are falling in your favour.
"Energy is energy, but when you're at home and you're the away team and that goal horn keeps going off, it's a plus for the home team," Kassian said. "It can feel like the ice is slanted a bit."
The stage is set for the Oilers to defend their home ice tonight and find a way back into the series. Once Enter Sandman thunders over the Rogers Place speakers a little after 6:00 p.m. and over 18,000 fans rise to their feet, it's up to the guys on the ice to make it happen.
>>> VIEW THE OILERS PROJECTED GAME 3 LINEUP
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com
OILERS vs. AVALANCHE (Game 3)
STREAM: 6:00 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet & CBC
Oilers Team Scope
After putting up six goals in a losing effort in Game 1, the Edmonton Oilers were blanked 4-0 in Game 2 of their Western Conference Final matchup with the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.
A strong opening period that included six minutes on the penalty kill and 1:31 of 5-on-3 was undone in a 2:04 lapse of the second period in which the Avalanche scored three times before Nathan MacKinnon added further insurance on the powerplay late in the third period.
"Three goals in however many minutes, obviously that changed the game that in that five-minute lapse," forward Zach Hyman said post-game. "I thought we were playing well up until that point. In the first we were playing well, had some penalties and killed them off. That should be a momentum builder for us. We just had a five-minute lag there in the second and they shut it right down."
Video: RAW | Leon Draisaitl 06.03.22
The Oilers have the opportunity beginning in Game 3 to find their best game and fight their way back into the series behind their home crowd at Rogers Place. According to Head Coach Jay Woodcroft, Edmonton has yet to string together a solid 60 minutes in this series.
"I don't think we've played our best game yet. I think there's more there," he said. "I think we have individuals who have more to give. As a team, our team game can be a lot more sound than it has been. I don't feel yet that we've played a full 60 minutes.
"We've had good spurts, good periods, but we haven't played a full 60 minutes yet and I know what our team is capable of. Certainly, if we bring it over a full 60 minutes, we'll be in a good spot."
Avalanche Team Scope
Goaltender Pavel Francouz stepped up as Colorado's starter in Game 2 after the upper-body injury to Darcy Kuemper and stopped all 24 shots for a shutout in Thursday's 4-0 victory that gives the Avalanche a 2-0 series lead.
Forward Nazem Kadri chipped in three assists during that three-goal stretch in 2:04 from the Avalanche, while both Mikko Rantanen and Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and assist.
Video: RAW | Jay Woodcroft 06.03.22
Colorado capitalized by stopping the Oilers through the neutral zone and preventing Edmonton from establishing much momentum on the forecheck, utilizing quick breakouts and the transition game to attack with speed and make it a hard evening for their opponents.
"They found a way to break through. We didn't," Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. "They've got good players, they've got good defensemen]. We haven't had a ton of chances off the rush. We've got to find a way to create off the forecheck and off [offensive zone
The Oilers and Avalanche set an NHL record combining for 14 goals in Game 1, the most goals scored in a game one during the conference finals... MacKinnon leads Colorado with 10 goals during this post-season run... MacKinnon recorded a playoff career-high of 11 shots, the second-most by any player in a single game of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs only trailing teammate Cale Makar who registered 12 shots on May 5, 2022 in the First Round against Nashville... Connor McDavid leads the NHL playoffs with 29 points (8G, 21A) in 12 games... The Avalanche are 5-0 on the road this post-season...
Injury Report
OILERS - Kyle Turris (undisclosed) is on IR; Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR.
AVALANCHE - Samuel Girard (fractured sternum) is out for the remainder of the playoffs; Ryan Murray (fractured hand) is day-to-day; Darcy Kuemper (upper-body injury) left Game 1 and is day-to-day.
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com