Oilers’ Keith turning back clock in playoffs

Duncan Keith had been here before.

Well, maybe not exactly here, breaking down a wild 9-6 loss to open the Oilers’ second-round playoff series against their bitter rival. But the veteran defenseman has seen pretty much everything over his 17 NHL seasons.

The morning of Game 2, and with his team already wobbling against a physical, grinding opponent, Keith cut a calm figure.

“We’ve got a fairly good understanding that it’s one game, it’s early in the series,” the 38-year-old said. “But we need to have a response.”

Keith was a huge part of the Oilers’ solution against the Flames’ relentless, high-pressure forecheck on Friday night. He also chipped in with a goal and two assists as the Oilers rebounded from another early deficit to down the Flames 5-3 and even the first postseason Battle of Alberta in 31 years.

It was the Winnipeg native’s first three-point playoff performance since May 2015, when he was in the process of winning a third Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks.

“Just unfazed,” Oilers winger Zach Hyman said. “Somebody’s who’s seen it all, has done it all.”

“Such a veteran presence back there, such a big voice in the room,” added Edmonton captain Connor McDavid, the beneficiary of a slick Keith feed to spark the comeback while down 3-1 in the second period. “He’s been great for us.”

Auto racing: Jimmie Johnson posted the fastest four-lap average of any Indianapolis 500 rookie and qualified for Sunday’ pole shootout. The seventime Cup champion went 232.398 mph on the sixth run of the day then waited to see if his average speed would be good enough to make the top 12. He finished sixth, just behind Chip Ganassi Racing teammate and good friend Tony Kanaan at 232.625.

Tennis: Casper Ruud retained his Geneva Open title by beating Joao Sousa 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (1) in the final on Saturday.