The Edmonton Oilers overcame a pair of unauthorized goals and two broken sticks that the Calgary Flames turned into goals to win 5-3 and even win their playoff series with one win each on Friday.
Zack Hyman scored the winning goal in the third half.
Edmonton captain Conor McDavid’s goal and assist on Friday made him the fastest active player, scoring 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) in a postseason and the fastest of all players since Mario Lemieux in 1992.
“He’s willing to pay the price to win. He’s on the move,” said Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft. “He influences everyone in our organization with this desire to take his game to the next level.
“The way his man is playing right now is special. He’s driving our team forward.”
Leon Drysight and defender Duncan Keith had two goals and two assists, and Evan Bouchard also scored for Edmonton.
After being drawn from Calgary’s early 9-6 victory in Game 1, Oilers goalkeeper Mike Smith made 37 saves and assisted on Draisaitl’s insurance goal.
WATCH Smith assists on Draisaitl’s goal:
Oilers goalkeeper Mike Smith recorded an assist in Leon Dreissile’s split goal
Goalkeeper Mike Smith received an assist in Leon Dreiselt’s goal to support Edmonton’s 5-3 victory over Calgary in Game 2.
“Losses are not fun, and wins are a lot of fun,” McDavid said. “I thought we were fighting harder.
“We won about 50-50 goals. We didn’t win much in Game 1. I thought we did well with that. I thought we defended better. However, we gave up some chances. Smith played well.”
Michael Stone, Brett Ritchie and Tyler Tofoli scored for Calgary, who led 3-1 early in the second period.
Johnny Godrot made two assists. Goalkeeper Jacob Markström stopped 35 shots in the loss.
The best of the seven Western Conference semifinals heads to Rodgers Place in Edmonton for Game 3 on Sunday and Game 4 on Tuesday. The Oilers finished 18-4-2 at Rodgers Place in their last 24 regular season games.
Calgary (50-21-11) led the Pacific Division before runner-up Edmonton (49-27-6) in the regular season. Alberta’s rivals are in the playoffs for the sixth time, but for the first time since 1991.
One of the best teams in the NHL five on five, the Flames were limited to almost 11 minutes on Friday. Edmonton scored his first goal of the series with a powerful game in the middle of the second period to send the game into a third 3-3 deadlock.
“We missed a lot of opportunities,” said Flames head coach Daryl Sutter. “Markstrom was really, really good for us. The individual skills were what stood out tonight and the situations in which they scored. It’s hard to deal with, but it’s not part of it either [playing] five on five.
“There was a goal four to four, a goal five to four, a goal five to four for us, a short goal for them. If you don’t play five on five, that’s definitely a team advantage for them. “
Calgary’s change in the offensive zone with a man’s advantage became a short chance for Hyman in the third period.
WATCH Hyman marks a marker with a short hand:
Zack Hyman’s piece lifts Oilers above Flames in Game 2
Zack Hyman’s short-arm goal in the third period was the winner of the game, as Edmonton beat Calgary 5-3 to level the series in the second round at 1-1.
After breaking his stick in Calgary’s first goal and receiving one of his own goals in the second, Hyman went up to Markstrom at 10:14 for the winner of the game.
“You just have to keep working,” Hyman said. “These are the playoffs. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is winning, right?”
Smith threw the puck to Draisaitl, who is playing due to a lower body injury, to score the insurance goal in another break at 12:36.
Broken Oiler sticks contributed to the Flames’ goals in the first and second periods. Defender Darnell Nurse was hampered without deep in the Edmonton area in the second.
Gaudreau passed to the fold for Elias Lindholm to turn to Tofoli, whose goal in the power game at 2:04 gave Calgary a 3-1 lead.
Dreisitl’s goal in 2:31 of the second was canceled. Flames head coach Daryl Sutter successfully challenged the intervention of the goalkeeper from McDavid.
But McDavid scored four four seconds later to equalize Edmonton within one.
He rolled Calgary defender Nikita Zadorov into open ice, took a pass from Keith and took control of the puck with the stretched platform of Markström at 3:05.
Bouchard pulled the Oilers even at 3:03 p.m. during Stone’s double minor for high-stick.
After setting the record for the fastest two goals to start a playoff game at the start of the series with a pair within 51 seconds, Calgary hit early again, 63 seconds after the puck fell.
However, Edmonton and Smith regained their composure faster than in Game 1.
Hyman celebrated a goal with just over four minutes until the end of the opening period, but officials refused. The whistle sounded before the puck crossed the goal line in a rush.
Keith halved the deficit by two goals at 1:45 p.m. McDavid, who is circling behind the net, holds Flame defender Rasmus Anderson with one hand and holds the puck on his stick with the other.
McDavid scored with one hand to Keith, who beat Markstrom in the far side.
The hosts took a 2-0 lead at 6:02 when Smith hit Eric Goodbranson. Richie pounced on the free puck in the crease and sent a backhand from the Oilers goalkeeper.
Hyman broke his wand and failed to pull another from the bench before Stone’s shot from the point defeated Smith in the bottom corner of the glove at 1:03.
The Flames were minus the best defender Chris Tanev for the third consecutive match. He was injured in Game 6 of Calgary’s first-round series against Dallas. Tanev skated in training this week, but did not dress for matches.
Calgary came out 1-on-5 with a male advantage in the game, while the Oilers were 1-on-6.
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