The Battle of Alberta Part 4

The Battle of Alberta has taken an unexpected turn. The Oilers have swept the season in their four games against the Flames. They have really turned up the heat to intensify their rivalry with Calgary. This is in large part due to Oilers Captain Connor McDavid, who leads the NHL in scoring with 56 points in 49 games played with 16 goals and 40 assists.

The Oilers started things off in their new Rogers Place arena with a decisive 7-4 win against the Flames on October 12^th. In the first period, Patrick Maroon, Tyler Pitlick and Zack Kassian scored for the Oilers. Alex Chiasson scored the only first period goal for the Flames. Connor McDavid took a hit from Deryk Engelland (Flames), which prompted Milan Lucic (Oilers) to go after Engelland. In the second period, Troy Brouwer and Michael Frolik both scored shorthanded goals for the Flames. McDavid scored two more goals, one of them on a penalty shot. Oilers forward Jesse Puljujarvi scored his first NHL goal in the third period. Dennis Wideman of the Flames answered with a goal of his own. Jordan Eberle scored an empty net goal to seal the deal for the Oilers with a 7-4 win.

For their second game this season, the Oilers beat the Flames 5-3 at Calgary’s home arena, the Scotiabank Saddledome on October 14th. Sean Monahan of the Flames scored the first goal, followed by a breakaway by McDavid. Frolik then scored another for the Flames. Eberle scored a power play shot for the Oilers in the second period. Leon Draisaitl scored the first Oilers goal of the third period. Mark Letestu scored another for the oilers on a shorthanded breakaway shot. Jyrki Jokipakka scored the last point of the game for the Flames. Draisaitl scored again with an empty net goal that finished the game with a 5-3 win for the Oilers. There were lots of penalties by both sides and even some scuffles.

The third game took place at Rogers Place on January 14^th.  This game was closer than the first two, with the Oilers winning 2-1. Maroon scored the first goal of the game well into the second period, putting the Oilers up by one. Monahan scored one for the Flames 26 seconds later. Not a single goal was made during the third period or overtime. The Oilers registered six shots in overtime, while the Flames recorded none. The game wasn’t decided until Draisaitl and Letestu won the shootout for the Oilers.

Their last game together was a 7-3 Oilers win in Calgary on January 21^st. Anton Slepyshev, Letestu and Eberle scored three times for the Oilers in the first six minutes of the game. Lucic and Engelland went at it again with their second fight this season. McDavid, Eberle, and Oscar Klefbom scored for the Oilers in the second period and Matthew Tkachuk scored for the Flames. Klefbom scored another for an Oilers power play goal. During the third period, Monahan and Lance Bouma scored for the Flames only to be answered with an empty net goal by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Oilers. Goaltender Laurent Brossoit made 38 saves for the Oilers for his first NHL win.