Edmonton, Alberta ? The raw, damp weather under gray skies reflected the mood of the team and the town as the Oilers returned home Thursday.

After upset victories over Detroit, San Jose and Anaheim in the first three rounds of the playoffs, the Oilers remained confident that their 0-2 deficit to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup finals was merely an obstacle and not a killer blow.

“By no means is this over with,” forward Ryan Smyth said in the bowels of Rexall Place following the 5-hour flight from Raleigh, N.C. “We’re not going to roll over and die. We know they’re a good hockey team. We can improve.”

They will have to in Game 3 on Saturday night or the series will be short.

Edmonton jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opener on Monday, but by the time it was over the Oilers had lost the game and No. 1 goalie Dwayne Roloson. They were never really in Game 2 when rookie Cam Ward shut them down in a 5-0 loss.

This is a deficit the Oilers have already faced and overcome. In the second round, Edmonton came home after dropping two at San Jose and ran off four straight victories. A triple overtime win in Game 3 provided the juice.

Edmonton Oilers forward Ryan Smith ponders a question during an interview with the media in Edmonton. The Oilers are looking for answers while facing a 2-0 deficit to the Carolina Hurricanes entering Saturday's Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals.

Now they’re counting on Jussi, goalie Jussi Markkanen that is. The Oilers know a loss on Saturday would put them in a hole only two NHL teams have crawled out of to win.

“Obviously we’ve got to come out better in the home games, and we’re looking forward to the opportunity to tie this series at home,” Markkanen said.

He was picked to take over for Roloson, who won’t play again in the series because of a knee injury. Despite the five goals allowed Wednesday, coach Craig MacTavish had no complaints about Markkanen’s performance.

But the rest of the Oilers failed to rally around him and didn’t provide the big-game performance they often relied on Roloson to provide.

“I don’t know if anybody planted some seeds of doubt or some built-in excuses where Dwayne is out now so it’s going to be that much more difficult,” forward Michael Peca said. “Obviously when you lose your No. 1 goalie, the task will become at times a little bit more difficult. We still need to play our game.

“We need to find a way to be who we are. We still control, as forwards, as defensemen, what our game is. Regardless of what goalie is in there it shouldn’t affect the way we play.”

Markkanen heard his name chanted derisively by Hurricanes fans as the gap on the scoreboard grew in Game 2. If sounds of “Jus-si, Jus-si” reverberate through the walls of the Oilers’ arena, a building saturated with championship history, very few in Edmonton would be upset.

“Obviously these are the biggest games in the hockey world,” said Markkanen, who before Wednesday had never started a playoff game and hadn’t seen any game action since March 1. “It’s really exciting, and it’s going to be a really exciting moment on Saturday when we hit the home ice.”

After winning a Northwest Division-low 20 home games during the regular season, the Oilers have gone 6-2 there in the playoffs.