Rogers Place should be rowdy Sunday night when the Edmonton Oilers host the Calgary Flames in Game 3 of the playoff series. (630 CHED Face-off Show at 4 p.m., game at 6 p.m.). The series is tied 1-1.
“We know the start is important. I think the crowd should help us out there. Not out to best starts in Calgary. We batted back in both games,” said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “Tonight, with the atmosphere and the crowd buzzing, there’s no excuse why we shouldn’t come out flying.”
The Oilers trailed 3-0 six minutes into Game 1 and 2-0 six minutes into Game 2.
“We want to score the first goal. No one sets out with the game plan to find themselves down early,” said head coach Jay Woodcroft.
“You have to account that the other team does some good stuff, too. For us, it’s just about about making sure we’re bringing a mindset where we want to be on our toes. We don’t want to dip our toe in the water and take the temperature of the game. We know what the temperature of the game is going to be.”
The Oilers expected lineup is:
Kane – McDavid – Draisaitl
Hyman – Nugent-Hopkins – Puljujarvi
Foegele – McLeod – Yamamoto
Archibald – Ryan – Kassian
Nurse – Ceci
Keith – Bouchard
Kulak – Barrie
Smith