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 12th. 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
14th. 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 21st. 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.
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