Happiness for this team keeps getting cheaper by the dozen. On Thursday night, the Edmonton Oilers tied an NHL record for most consecutive wins by a Canadian team. That would be the Montreal Canadiens back in the 1967/1968 season, with 12 wins in a row.
I’ll first own up to a mistake I made in my last article. I mentioned Vince Dunn being a key to the game against Seattle but didn’t realize he was on the Kraken’s list of injuries. The more you write, the more you learn.
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Not that you ever want to nitpick a winning streak like this, but you could see times against the Kraken where they looked too calm and too relaxed. Of course, there isn’t too much stress when you’re winning more, but they got a big wake-up call after the opening 20 minutes. They allowed three breakaways for Seattle in the first period, two of them resulting in goals. Edmonton’s defensive play has absolutely improved, but these were lackadaisical mistakes. Luckily, the Oilers were resilient enough to do what they’ve been doing for most of this winning streak. Watching them keep finding ways to crawl back into games is part of what makes this run more impressive. Evander Kane picked two assists on the night to reach 600 points in his NHL career. After it was announced that Sam Gagner was coming back into the lineup from injury, there was some speculation that maybe Kane would be sitting that game out due to a hand injury. He’s been reportedly dealing with nagging injuries the last little while. Good on him for grinding it out and producing, but this was the same error we saw from Connor McDavid back when the Oilers couldn’t stop losing. Mattias Ekholm was feeling the same way when he missed all of training camp, then the season opener, and it took him awhile to get back to normal on the ice. Here’s hoping Kane recovers from whatever is holding him back, and he may benefit from the All-Star break. Leon Draisaitl and Warren Foegele haven’t changed at all, even with a new winger. Foegele having a disagreement with the officials because he was just trying to get the hat-trick is a humorous story to look back on. Congrats also to Darnell Nurse on playing his 600th NHL game.
Even though Edmonton scored two powerplay goals on Thursday, they’ve only scored on seven of their last 39 chances. It’s in a massive slump by their standards, but they still average, scoring three or four goals every night, erasing the narrative that they are powerplay merchants. That being said, the way they structure their PP may be getting more predictable on the ice. Opposing teams are now fully expecting one of Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, or Evan Bouchard to be fed the puck. The Oilers will have to look for other ways to get PP goals, and the Calgary Flames rank 6th in the league on the penalty kill. Best of luck to ya.
In the first meeting of the season between these provincial rivals, I called it the Pillow Fight of Alberta. This was because all Edmonton and Calgary kept doing was lose. I couldn’t really care less at the time that it was an outdoor game. A few months later, things have changed. The Flames sit only three points out of a Wild Card spot, and the Oilers are now third in the Pacific Division. Edmonton would love nothing more than to break the aforementioned NHL record for consecutive wins by a Canadian team while at the same time making it harder for the Flames to get into a Playoff position. Calgary would love nothing more than to spoil that record-breaking chance for the Oilers while getting themselves closer to a Playoff position. The Battle of Alberta, at least for tonight, is meaningful again. Who’s ready for another Saturday of Hockey Night In Canada? The keys to the game are…
Marky Mark: Jacob Markstrom has bounced back from a below-average 2022/2023 campaign, going from a .892 SV% to a .912 SV%. His GAA has also dropped a tad, from 2.92 last season to 2.59 this season. The one issue for him is that he’s played some of his worst hockey against Edmonton since he signed with Calgary. The 2023 Heritage Classic wasn’t very appealing for him, with a 4.13 GAA and .875 SV% to end that night. If he’s starting this one for the Flames, he has to be wishing for himself to come up huge against the Oilers eventually. Edmonton, of course, doesn’t want that wish to ever come true.
Yegor Meister: During the offseason, Calgary traded Tyler Toffoli to New Jersey in exchange for Yegor Sharangovich. Toffoli had just come off 34 and 39 assists for 73 points in all 82 games played and was moved for someone who had 30 points. But I have to say, the Belarusian forward has been doing with the Flames in his fourth NHL season. He’s on pace for a career-high 35 goals and 23 assists for 58 points, which would surpass his 2021/2022 campaign of 24 goals and 22 assists for 46 points. He’s undoubtedly been the best forward on a line with Elias Lindholm and Jonathan Huberdeau.
A Lump Of Coleman: The 32-year-old Blake Coleman was brought in by Calgary in 2021 as a solid veteran middle six winger with a Stanley Cup-winning pedigree. Just a little over the halfway mark of the season, he’s having himself a career year with 20 goals and 18 assists for 38 points and is a +24. He got 38 points in all 82 games last season and has reached that total in just 45 games this season, on pace for 69 points. He’s been a very effective fit on the second line with Mikael Backlund and Andrew Mangiapane.
