Is there anything better than a Saturday night battle of Alberta? No. No there is not.
As the Saddledome approaches, the first thing for the Oilers will be to get through the first period without getting dirty or giving Calgary an easy lead. If they can navigate the first two minutes without giving up a terrible goal, they’ll be fine, but as we’ve seen countless times over the years, understanding that the game starts at 8 p.m. can be difficult. I don’t know what has to happen for the Oilers to start games the same way they end them, but if I could find a magical genie who would grant me one wish, that would be it. If a genie doesn’t work, then maybe the boys need to start listening to Death Metal before the game to get the blood going a bit. My quest for solutions aside, I believe the boys already know what they need to do to avenge the Oct. 15 loss, but as always, the tricky part will be making sure they execute.
Let’s see what the numbers say.
OILERS |
FLAMES |
|
REGISTRATION |
5-3-0 |
5-1-0 |
WIN/LOST STRING |
W3 |
W2 |
last 10 games |
5-3-0 |
5-1-0 |
OBJECTIVES FOR |
31 |
22 |
GOALS AGAINST |
26 |
17 |
POWER SET % |
34.5 |
30.4 |
PENALTY KILL% |
75.0 |
84.6 |
AVG. BLOWS/FOR |
33.9 |
36.7 |
AVG. BLOWS/COUNTERS |
34.1 |
27.8 |
SAVE AS A TEAM % |
.928 |
.921 |
CORSI FOR% |
53.40 |
52.42 |
PDO |
1.002 |
1.006 |
TEAM SHOOTING % |
7.50 |
8.50 |
EXPECTED GOALS FOR % |
51.21 |
51.21 |
GDB PRESENTED BY BETWAY
Lubricators
RNH–McDavid–Hyman
Kane–Draisaitl–Yamamoto
Foegele–McLeod–Puljujarvi
Shore–Ryan
Nurse – Ceci
Koulak–Barrie
Murray Bouchard
Niemelainen
Campbell
Heading into the second round of the Battle of Alberta, the most obvious note I can give is that the Oilers need to be ready to play on the first faceoff. Full stoppage. When those two teams last met on Oct. 15, the Oilers spotted Calgary with four goals in the space of one period and one substitution, and that’s just not enough against a very good hockey team like the Flames. The margin for error is just too small in this league to spit out chance after chance, and if the Oilers have a chance to redeem themselves, it will have to start with the opening draw. As for line combos, what’s listed above is a carryover from Thursday’s game in Chicago, so don’t put too much stock in what’s listed just yet.
flames
Huberdeau–Lindholm–Toffoli
Dube – Kadri – Mangiapane
Coleman–Backlund–Lewis
Lucic-Rooney-Ritchie
Ružicka
Weegar-Tanev
Hanifin–Andersson
Zadorov–Peter
mackey
markstrom
I hate to say it, but the Flames are a damn good hockey team, and it’s going to take a full team effort from the Oilers if they’re going to respond with a win. The Flames aren’t one of those teams where you can win by luck even when the team is playing poorly, and the challenge facing the Oilers is finding a way to compete for a full 60 minutes.
I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, but the Calgary Flames are playing the Edmonton Oilers in a hockey game on Saturday night. It’s the second such meeting between these two teams in October, following a rather controversial Alberta playoff battle in the spring.
With such a big game approaching, of course, Calgary’s goaltender is a big talking point. Specifically, which goaltender should start against the Oilers: backup Dan Vladar or starter Jacob Markstrom?
From the way the Flames have been juggling their goalie lately, the Edmonton game looks like a Jacob Markstrom departure. Of course, head coach Darryl Sutter aims to start Vladar per week, but that’s most likely a projected average, not a hard and fast rule. Bringing Markstrom back to the levels of play and arrogance of his Vezina Trophy contender is the important part, especially with Vladar showing last season that he can be really good even if used sparingly.
Markstrom needs reps to get his game started, and a big test against Edmonton could be huge for his game and his confidence.
Game day prediction: The Oilers tied the season streak with a spicy 4-2 win at the Crumbledome.
Obvious game day prediction: I’ll be at the Saddledome and promise to hand out no less than five beers in an effort to help our Calgary friends land in a new arena and get out of this dump.
Not-so-obvious game-day prediction: Brett Kulak lands his first goal of the season with a showy wrist from the point.
#GDB #Battle #Boys #Part #8pm #HNIC