from Eric Francis of Sportsnet On any given night, Connor McDavid alone can beat you. On Friday, the Calgary Flames got a grim reminder there’s another way to lose to the Edmonton Oilers – turn it into a skill contest. As in, reduce the number of skaters on the ice for either side to open things up. Both points were driven home in a 5-3 loss that saw Edmonton rebound from an early deficit to score four unanswered goals for the second game in a row to open this Western Conference semifinal. continued from Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal, Well, after dropping a 9-6 laugher to the Calgary Flames in Game 1 Wednesday, which tied the NHL record for most goals ever in a playoff game, the Oilers got the first part of the equation right Friday, and mostly importantly the second with another out-of-this-world performance from Connor McDavid and two late strikes by Zach Hyman (shorthanded) and Leon Draisaitl for a stirring comeback 5-3 victory to even the series at a game apiece. The Oilers, who gave up three in the first 6:05 in Game 1, driving Mike Smith to the bench, were down two again in Game 2 after six minutes but Smith hung in after goals by Michael Stone and Brett Ritchie. And the team, refusing to go quietly and madly into the cold Calgary night, overcame two disallowed goals by Hyman (quick whistle in a scrum) and Draisaitl (McDavid interference on Jacob Markstrom) and twice clawed back from two-goal deficits. Article content “Not an ideal start obviously but a huge battle back,” said Hyman. “We knew that we’re capable of it and we did it last game (tying it 6-6) but not the way we wanted to, I’d say. This time from Smitty onwards I think we shored up things defensively. We didn’t give them as much. I thought we earned our chances, got a couple called back, but still worked, earned our power plays and got back into the game, then won it.” read on Game highlights are below.

* After 23 goals in Calgary (the highest combined total through two games of a series in 35 years) – with each contest seeing the Flames hold multi-goal leads and the Oilers tie the score – the "Battle of Alberta" will shift to Edmonton tied 1-1 following an Oilers win in Game 2. * Connor McDavid recorded his NHL-leading 20th point of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs and is producing at a pace last seen 30 years ago. * Sebastian Aho factored on each of Carolina’s goals and climbed multiple franchise lists in the process as the Hurricanes set a franchise record for longest home win streak and skated to a 2-0 series lead. * The Second Round series between the Avalanche and Blues will shift to St. Louis – the lone contest slated for Saturday. When a best-of-seven series is tied 1-1, the winner of Game 3 goes on to win 67% of the time.   

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post, Chris Kreider had a dreadful game. Mika Zibanejad battled, but was unable to generate. Artemi Panarin, who talked before the game about how he had adopted a risk-averse approach to the playoffs, tried to do more with the puck in open spaces than he had in Game 1, but couldn’t create. Adam Fox was monitored closely. Ryan Strome was defended well. The Rangers generated so little that Gallant juggled his combinations late in the second, breaking up the Kid Line so he could flip Alexis Lafreniere with Andrew Copp and get Lafreniere into the top six. Lafreniere battled, but the line changes, under which Frank Vatrano also was replaced by Kaapo Kakko on the right with Kreider and Zibanejad, yielded nothing. You might say that it is unfair that the Rangers will come out of these first two games with nothing and are just one home loss away from being shoved to the precipice. The Blueshirts defended well enough that Igor Shesterkin was never under undue pressure. On those shifts in which they were pinned in their own end, the Blueshirts defended the middle. They played strong playoff hockey. But they could not finish the deal because the marquee guys on their marquee power play could not even generate the opportunity to finish. The Rangers were not necessarily outplayed or outworked by the Hurricanes. You cannot say the same for their power play. more from Dan Rosen of NHL.om Antti Raanta knew that in order to give the Carolina Hurricanes a chance against the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Second Round he would have to play perfect, or at least close to it, because that's what Rangers' goalie Igor Shesterkin was going to do, too. "You get a little more on your toes when you know the other goalie is the tops in the league," Raanta said regarding Shesterkin, who is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy awarded to the NHL's top goaltender. Raanta was perfect in Game 2 with 21 saves in a 2-0 win at PNC Arena on Friday. Carolina's goalie has been perfect on 45 shots since allowing a goal early in the first period of Game 1. continued Game highlights are below.