The Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames are giving Albertan hockey fans a Christmas treat this week, bookending the three-day holiday break with a game in each other’s building. The two teams hooked up at Rogers Place last night, with this game meaning a ton to both squads. It would be a guaranteed “Festivus” miracle for one team, that was for sure.
The Oilers could grab a share of first place in the Pacific Division with a win. This, despite not having won three games in a row all season. Or, to the Flames would be knocking at the door of a playoff spot following a disastrous 1–8 start to the campaign.
Both teams are in interesting situations, in spite of their standings positions currently. The Oilers don’t look like the same world-beaters as they were the previous few seasons. Yet they’ve treaded water well enough this year and have gotten past the most difficult part of their schedule. The Flames are both terrible enough that they should be eyeing a top draft pick, yet still good enough to beat mediocre teams. A lot has changed since these two last clashed at Rogers Place on opening night.
Time, however, did not make the Oilers forget how they let that first game get away from them. In this contest, they got on the board early and often. They didn’t let up on a decidedly overmatched Calgary roster that tried to hang in there for as long as possible. The power of the cream-coloured alternate jerseys led to a Leon Draisaitl hat-trick, a five- yes, five assist night for Connor McDavid, and the usual side of Battle of Alberta chaos. If not for Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf, this could have been a much greater blowout.
Oilers win 5–1.
Long live the cream-coloured alternates. With their assistance, the Oilers are now tied for first place in the Pacific Division. It’s not even the new year yet, so this is significant progress. Here’s the game story.
Flames can compete all they want but they don’t have McDavid and Draisaitl
Calgary came into this contest with a 10–4–1 record in their last 15 games. In that time span, they’ve basically been a top-five team in the league, showing some resolve after their ugly start to the year. Their push has been sparked by contributions throughout the lineup, on offence and defence.
What they don’t have, however, are the transcendent talents of McDavid and Draisaitl. The Flames do not have players capable of singlehandedly taking over multiple games by themselves, outside of Wolf. Nor do they have players who can give you a Michael Jordan-esque expression and instill fear in you by proxy.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins actually got the scoring party started. Nuge has more points against Calgary than he does against any other team—as true-blue an Oiler as they come.
Draisaitl came into this game without a goal in a while. Eight games might not be much for the average player to sneeze at, but for Draisaitl, it must feel like waiting for the Valley Line West LRT to be built. Graciously, the Flames gave Edmonton a power play to work with so that Draisaitl could shed that weight.
It’s the holiday season! And the Flames wore their red jerseys up here. As a result, they all became Santas, and gave the Oilers another man-advantage for Draisaitl to convert.
After taking a break to let Zach Hyman pot another goal, Draisaitl finished off the hat trick to make it 5–1. Tying all of these goals together was a quintet of McDavid assists—yes, five all told. Even crazier, this wasn’t his first five-assist outing of his career.
The Oilers didn’t need the depth tonight. The stars shone bright on this occasion. Stars that Calgary just can’t match.
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Frederic fights again—it not only went better, but was strategic
Trent Frederic’s previous fight this season came against the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Mathieu Olivier. Let’s just say, that fight was a mismatch. Not even some of the NHL’s best tough guys can defeat Olivier in a scrap, never mind Trent Frederic. At the very least though, it did give his team a bit of a spark.
On this night, Frederic would fight again, but for some context, MacKenzie Weegar was already out of the game by this point on account of crash-out.
Around this time of the game was when much antagonizing had started to take place. Flames defenceman Kevin Bahl, in particular, was eager to go with somebody. Frederic obliged, and with the Flames already down one defenceman, this left them with only four d-men for a more than five-minute stretch in the second period.
This was a smart move, not because the Oilers needed more offence (they didn’t). But because it taxed the other four in the Flames’ d-corps to a point where they wouldn’t have much energy to try and fuel a comeback. Well-timed fight, and in a scenario where the trade-off is your 4C for a defenceman, you take it every time.
It’s Ingram’s net until Jarry returns
Connor Ingram might well have stayed in the American Hockey League if Tristan Jarry had not gotten injured. His numbers down there were dismal, and his call-up was purely out of necessity. Nobody was expecting him to be much better than counterpart Calvin Pickard in his NHL stint.
However, he started with a solid performance on Sunday against Vegas, helping his team lock down a 4–3 lead to the end. And on this night, his only blemish was a first-period goal surrendered to Weegar.
Beyond that point, what light work Ingram saw, he handled with ease. For a second straight game, he didn’t need to make many, if any, difficult saves, but he made nearly all of the saves he had to make. Ingram finished with 18 saves and a .947 save percentage, which for the supposed future backup, is pretty darn solid.
Pickard, in most of his starts, hasn’t always been as steady as Ingram has been these past two games. Until Jarry is ready to return, and with no back-to-backs imminent, Ingram should be the starter. He’s given the Oilers what they need, when they need it. It’s nothing against Pickard, but sometimes you just have to roll with the hot hand.
It feels jolly to already be back at the top of the Pacific
First place in the Pacific Division. It feels weird to say this on December 24, given that the past couple seasons, the Oilers are still digging themselves out of the deep hole they get into, at this point. But unlike the past couple seasons, the Oilers survived this year’s opening part of the schedule better. That has put them in this position to succeed down the stretch.
A good portion of their remaining schedule is at home, and they don’t have any Eastern time zone games left. If the Oilers continue to heat up, this might finally be the year the team can win the division. Winning games over Pacific foes will only bolster their odds.
Player perspective
“We’ve been playing some good hockey, some consistent good hockey, and… everyone’s contributing, everyone’s chipping in, doing their part. And when we get to that point, we’re a tough team to handle.” -Leon Draisaitl on the 8–2–1 run that’s gotten the Oilers to the top of the division
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays; see you all on Saturday
No hockey for the next three days! It’s time to be festive, and enjoy being around a dinner table with friends and family, adopted and blood-related. The timing of Christmas this year, however, lines things up perfectly however for what comes next.
These two teams will come out of the Christmas break to a Hockey Night in Canada showdown. Saturday night, out at the Saddledome in Calgary, 8:00 PM start time. With how spicy things became at the end of last night’s contest, one has to wonder if we might see a Battle of Alberta matching the legendary “Goalie Fight” game. Anything is possible when it comes to the Battle of Alberta, so stay tuned!
