Flames focused on facing Oilers at 5-on-5 heading to Game 3

CALGARY --Darryl Sutter knows how difficult the Edmonton Oilers are to handle, but the Calgary Flames found that task even trickier in Game 2 of the Western Conference Second Round at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday.

"They scored a 4-on-4 goal, 5-on-4 goal, 5-on-4 goal for us, shorthanded goal for them," the Flames coach said following the 5-3 loss that evened the best-of-7 series. "So if you're not playing 5-on-5, that's definitely to their team's advantage."
Game 2 marked the second time in as many games that the Flames squandered a lead. Although they were able to recover for a 9-6 win after blowing a 6-2 lead in Game 1 on Wednesday, the 3-1 advantage they held in the second period of Game 2 got away from them.
Calgary will attempt to put an end to that trend in Game 3 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN2, CBC, SN, TVAS).
Playing 5-on-5 as much as possible is a mantra the Flames have uttered throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but against the Oilers, it may be even that much more important. Their "individual skill set," Sutter said regarding the Oilers' top players, including center Connor McDavid and forward Leon Draisaitl, did some of their best work in Game 2 outside of 5-on-5.
RELATED: [Complete Flames vs. Oilers series coverage]
McDavid scored his sixth goal of the playoffs at 4-on-4, and forward Zach Hyman scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal while shorthanded. Add in defenseman Evan Bouchard's power-play goal in the second period, and three of Edmonton's five goals came while not at 5-on-5.
"Since I've been here, we've done a really good job of playing our type of hockey," Calgary forward Tyler Toffoli said. "The past two games here, we haven't really been playing to our foundation. Obviously, it's been getting away from us, giving up too many scoring chances. [Jacob Markstrom] played great tonight, kept us in the game."

Toffoli and Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin said the onus was on Markstrom's teammates playing in front of him.
"'Marky's' great for us tonight," Hanifin said. "'Toff' nailed it, I think we're kind of leaving our foundation, we're playing into their hands.
"We're not going to have much success if we're trying to trade chances with them. They're an opportunistic team, and they have some elite high-end skill that can capitalize when they have chances. We have to limit that, for sure."
As for why they were getting away from their game, the Flames said they weren't sure, though they know they can't take 10 penalties again like they did in Game 2.
"I think it's something we have to talk about within ourselves," Toffoli said. "At the end of the day, I've said it before, last series (against the Dallas Stars) as well, nobody's going to do it. It's only us. We have to find a way to get back to it and play 5-on-5 hockey and take over games."
Despite the Flames' frustrations, there's plenty of hockey left in the series, they just need to clean things up quickly and get back to what works best for them.
"I mean, it's playoff hockey. It's not going to be perfect every single night," Toffoli said. "Things happen within a game, and we have to stay composed and not take penalties and honestly, just play our type of hockey. If we stay 5-on-5, we're in a good spot."