PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers at Flames (Game 5)

The Edmonton Oilers look to finish off their second-round Battle of Alberta series against the Calgary Flames in Game 5 at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday night.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet West or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Video: OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game 5 at CGY 05.26.22

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS
GAME DAY VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game vs. CGY
PRE-GAME RAW | Coach Woodcroft
PRE-GAME RAW | Connor McDavid
PRE-GAME RAW | Brett Kulak
RECENT VIDEOS
RAW | Coach Jay Woodcroft
RAW | Derek Ryan\
RAW | Zach Hyman\
HIGHLIGHTS | EDM 5, CGY 3
BY THE NUMBERS
Oilers Statistics
Flames Statistics
Stats Comparison
Game Notes
RECENT BLOGS & ARTICLES
BLOG | Wednesday's Travel To Calgary
GAME RECAP | EDM 5, CGY 3
BLOG | Heavy Artilllery
VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Thursday's game on Sportsnet or CBC at 7:30 PM MT.
News and notes from the Oilers travel day on Wednesday.
**>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG**
CALGARY, AB - To close out the Calgary Flames in the Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday night, the Edmonton Oilers will have to match desperation with desperation.
The Oilers have won three straight in this second-round Battle of Alberta after losing Game 1 inside this very same building, having now prepared themselves for this elimination scenario to play their best game of the season to end their provincial rivals' playoff hopes.
In the other dressing room, the Flames will have to bring their best in front of their home fans to stave off elimination in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"We're desperate to close the series out. That's how you match it," captain Connor McDavid said pre-game. "We want to come out and have a strong performance and play our best game of the series and close it out.
"They're a great team over there and they got a lot of heart, so I expect them to come out and have a real solid game."
Edmonton dove into the 'C of Red' in the first two games of the series and earned the split despite conceding the first goal in each game. The Oilers reversed that trend on home ice in Games 3 and 4, with scoring the first goal in each of their contests at Rogers Place being labeled as the most important detail in those victories by Head Coach Jay Woodcroft in his morning media availability.
Video: PRE-RAW | Connor McDavid 05.26.22
"As a series moves forward and the games become more precious, you expect both teams to have their best. Certainly, we know they'll be prepared," Woodcroft said. "But as I've said along here in our messaging, we're worried about us and worried about making sure that we're playing our best game of the series today."
That experience of falling behind in both games at Scotiabank Saddledome hopes to play a positive role for the Oilers tonight in a hostile environment where the start to the game has been an issue for the Orange & Blue.
Opening puck drop to the 10-minute mark of the first frame will be the game within the game the Oilers want to win.
"Just experiencing that twice now, I think it just gives us a little bit more comfort about what to expect out there," McDavid said. "Obviously we haven't had two good starts in this building and starts are key, so I think for our group coming out and managing that 10-minute game and getting ourselves into the game early is important."
Video: PRE-RAW | Jay Woodcroft 05.26.22
There's no lead safe in hockey as exemplified in Game 4 where the Flames forged their way back, scoring on a weird 132-foot clearance from Rasmus Andersson that evaded Smith and his sights to tie the game midway through the third period.
The Oilers had the right response and said the right things on the bench in order to steel their emotions and take back the lead through the biggest goal of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' career late in regulation.
It's another experience to add to a list for Edmonton that includes facing elimination in the first round against LA that will help them be purposeful and direct in their approach tonight to end Calgary's season.
There will be ebbs and flows to a series, momentum swings and bounces and whatnot, but it's how you manage those that kind of dictates the outcome," McDavid said. "I thought we did a good job of just brushing it off and continuing to go."
"Having as many experiences as possible is a good thing. Experiencing those weird, whacky bounces and those letdowns from giving up a 3-0 lead and being able to respond… having those experiences and learning from them, knowing what you like from them, can help you moving forward."
KNOWING FROM EXPERIENCE
What made defenceman Brett Kulak a tough assignment during the 2020-21 season when the Stony Plain, AB product was with the Montreal Canadiens is making him a valuable piece for the Oilers this post-season.
"He's been great. Really solid," McDavid said. "We played against Montreal nine times last year, so we certainly got a lot of looks on Kuly and he played in Calgary before that, so I know a lot about his game.
"He's someone who skates really well, defends hard, and makes that first good pass. He's been solid for us back there."
Along with Kulak's ability on the backend comes plenty of playoff experience after going all the way to the Stanley Cup Final with the Canadiens, who lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games.
"I think it's just experiencing going through the games and realizing the plays that need to be made that aren't glamorous plays but effective plays while settling in being comfortable playing that type of game," Kulak said.
Video: PRE-RAW | Brett Kulak 05.26.22
"Nothing flashy, but just putting the puck in good spots and good positioning the whole game eventually leads to success. Going through that has definitely helped me. I just feel natural growth in my game over the years."
Part of that run saw the Canadiens comeback from a 3-1 deficit to defeat Zach Hyman's former side the Toronto Maple Leafs, so Kulak certainly understands the perspective of the Flames tonight having their backs against the wall facing elimination.
There is no safe lead in hockey, whether it's on the scoreboard or in a series.
"It's that tricky spot. It's almost like talking about the two-goal lead within a game. It's a two-game lead in the series and it's the same kind of thing," he said. "Teams if they get some success they can start rallying from that, so I think our job is to come out early and come hard.
"We've got to match their intensity and their speed and even push them on their heels and break their will and go from there."
LINEUP NOTES
Coach Woodcroft will keep his lineup status quo from Game 4 after holding a full pre-game skate this morning at Scotiabank Saddledome.
Devin Shore and Philip Broberg were respective placeholders in the lineup for Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse, who didn't participate but are fully expected to suit up for Game 5.
Along with Draisaitl and Nurse, forward Evander Kane is slated to play in his top-line position alongside McDavid and Draisaitl after not traveling with the team on Wednesday after celebrating the birth of his son Iverson Frank Kane. The 30-year-old has 12 goals in 11 post-season games to lead the Stanley Cup Playoffs, along with three assists.
>>> VIEW THE OILERS PROJECTED LINEUP FOR GAME 5
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com
OILERS vs. FLAMES
STREAM: 7:30 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet and CBC
Oilers Team Scope
The Oilers are looking to clinch a berth into the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2006 with a win over the Calgary Flames.
The Oilers captured their 3-1 series lead on Tuesday night at Rogers Place in another back-and-forth game in the Battle of Alberta, leaving with a 5-3 victory.
Edmonton got off to their best start of the series, notching three goals in the first 20 minutes of the game courtesy of Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Evander Kane.
For Hyman, it was the fourth consecutive game the forward has forced a goalie to dig the puck out the back of his net. The 29-year-old's five goals are tied for the Oilers lead in their series with the Flames.
The man tied with him is the aforementioned Kane, who has both a hat trick and a two-goal game to his credit against the Flames. The Oilers winger notched an empty-net goal on Tuesday, in addition to his first-period tally, to give Kane his fifth multi-goal performance of the post-season.
Nugent-Hopkins picked up the game-winner for the Oilers in Game 4, scoring his first two playoff goals in front of the Rogers Place fans.
A win on Thursday would send the Oilers to either Colorado or St. Louis for Game 1 & 2 of the Western Conference Final.
Flames Team Scope
The Flames are looking to hold on to their Stanley Cup hopes, but to do so, they will have to go a perfect three-of-three against the Oilers.
Calgary has struggled to keep the puck out of their net in the series, with the Oilers scoring four or more goals in every game so far. On offence, outside of the nine-goal Game 1 outburst, the Flames have been held to an average of 2.33 pucks past Mike Smith in the series' three other contests.
After spotting the Oilers a three-goal lead in Game 4, the Flames got on the board courtesy of an Elias Lindholm powerplay goal. The Swede was given too much time from the right circle to walk in and snipe a blocker side shot on Mike Smith.
The Flames would double up their total with a goal from on on-rushing Mikael Backlund, who notched his fourth tally of the post-season. Calgary would only get one more shot past Mike Smith in a bizarre fashion. Defenceman Rasmus Andersson lifted an arching shot from his own end, which caught everyone by surprise and found a way past Smith to tie the game 3-3.
Edmonton would stay focused, picking up the game-winner and an eventual empty netter to push Calgary to the brink in Game 4. So far this post-season, the Flames trio of Matthew Tkachuk, Johnny Gaudreau, and Elias Lindholm are a combined minus-13 after finishing the regular season plus-182 as a unit.
By The Numbers
Evander Kane has 12 goals in the first 11 playoff games which is the most in that time frame since Brett Hull had 13 in 11 games in 1990... Every goal Kane has scored has come in a multi-goal game... Leon Draisaitl is the first person to score three or more points in four straight games in a single post-season... Connor McDavid needs one point to tie Evgeni Malkin for the most points in a regular-season and playoff since 1996-97 with 149... McDavid currently has the third-highest points-per-game average in a single NHL playoff history with 2.27 in 2022... The Oilers have won five straight home games over the Flames for the first time in franchise history...
The Flames have had 11 different players score at least two goals in this year's post-season... Rasmus Andersson's goal on Mike Smith traveled 132 feet... Milan Lucic, Matthew Tkachuk, Nikita Zadorov, and Rasmus Andersson all have more than 20 penalties in minutes so far in the post-season... The Flames are 18-12 all-time in the fifth game of a series... Edmonton is the only team that Jacob Markstrom has allowed four-plus goals to more than two times in his career, with a total of seven games including regular season and playoffs...
Injury Report
OILERS - Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR.
FLAMES - Sean Monahan (hip) is on IR; Tyler Parsons (ankle) is on IR.
-- Michael Arcuri, EdmontonOilers.com