This historic hockey rivalry has it’s first of four meetings this Sunday. It’s one more than they had last season. In a couple of my articles from last year, I expressed how much I wanted to watch more than three games between these teams. I felt that the NHL sinned gravely against the hockey gods for conducting the schedule that way. No matter which one you cheer for, I think both Oilers fans and Flames fans thought the Battle Of Alberta finally made a comeback after the 2022 Playoffs and were really looking forward to future meetings. But as of right now, based on how this season has started, it feels more like the Pillow Fight Of Alberta instead.
Both Edmonton and Calgary lost 3-0 at home on Thursday night and were both booed off the ice. Flames defenseman Nikita Zadorov said the following: “I want to apologize to our fans, we’re playing like s*** right now.” And Darnell Nurse put some of his change in Edmonton’s swear jar. At this point, the Oilers have more F-bombs than third period goals. They heavily outshot the Rangers in the third period, but it was too little too late after going down in the second period. They should’ve played that way the entire game. Did anyone care when New York’s fourth goal was disallowed? Sure, you could make the case for a kicking motion, but there was no way Edmonton was coming back with roughly five minutes left. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling to hear boos at Rogers Place on the same night that they were inducting Charlie Huddy and Doug Weight into the Oilers Hall of Fame. It may not have hurt to ask if they could still dress up for a game or two, and I’m not saying that as a joke. We totally believe the players are angry about their start to the season, but we also want them to play like they’re angry. The Heritage Classic is supposed to be a cool outdoor event for fans. But it’s hard not to think about the losses instead of the fun. Both teams will look for this rivalry to possibly light a fire in their season in order to earn more wins. The keys to the game are…
Welcome Back, Connor: Last weekend, it was announced that Connor McDavid would miss 1-2 weeks with an injury. Well, one week passed, and he’s already good to go again. He practiced with the team on the Commonwealth Stadium’s ice surface, and all signs point to him playing. I’ve had mixed feelings about it because it feels like he’s rushing an injury the way Mattias Ekholm did just because he wants to play in this game. But we can’t force the best player in the world to sit out if he personally feels ready.
Marky Mark: Jacob Markstrom is in the same boat as Jack Campbell. He’s getting paid big money to be a #1 goalie but he looks more like an overpaid backup long-term. That being said, a .906 SV% isn’t the worst start in the world, and it’s two country miles better than his partner Dan Vladar’s .842 SV%. Just like Campbell, Markstrom is looking to bounce back from a below-average season. But his history of playing against Edmonton as a Flame is not on his side.
Improve The PP: I’ve already listed McDavid’s return as a key, but I can also look specifically at the powerplay with his return. Even though Edmonton still had enough talent on the man advantage, something was clearly missing with their chances to score on it. In the two games McDavid missed, the Oilers went 1-7 on the PP. I mentioned in an earlier article how it wasn’t looking the same as last year, even with McDavid playing. The man advantage needs to go back to the historic version of itself from last season.
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