Tonight, another edition of the Battle of Alberta goes down at the Scotiabank Saddledome with Alberta’s teams going in very different directions. The Oilers come into Calgary on a two-game win streak and sit second in the Scotia North, while the Flames have lost their last four in a row and going 2-8-0 in their last 10 games.
Keys To The Game:
Edmonton: Shots on net on the powerplay is a must. The Oilers sit second in the league with a 27.1% mark on the man advantage. The first PP unit of Edmonton’s is one that can strike fear into anyone.
Calgary: Plain and simple escape the first without giving up the first goal. So few things have gone right for the Flames early, that getting out of the first 20 minutes will be a success.
Players To Watch:
Edmonton: The diet this season for Leon Draisaitl has been full of feasting on the Flames. The reigning NHL MVP has 10 points this season against Calgary and has put up seven points in his last five games.
Calgary: There have been very few players who have had consistent success against the Oilers this season, but one of them has been Mikael Backlund. Backlund has put up six points (two goals and four assists) against the orange and blue. Keep an eye on him to try to give the Flames a jump early.
The Lines:
The Oilers come into this game with some changes to the roster. Tyler Ennis and James Neal have been recalled from the taxi squad will Kyle Turris finds himself on after clearing waivers. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has also been placed on the Injured Reserve.
Edmonton Oilers Projected Lines
(We don’t have a clear projection of the full Oiler lines, so I’m stealing a page from Megan’s book for beyond the first line forwards).
Leon Draisaitl-Connor McDavid-Jesse Puljujarvi
Guy-Guy-Guy
Guy-Guy-Guy
Guy-Guy-Guy
Darnell Nurse – Tyson Barrie
Kris Russell – Adam Larsson
Caleb Jones – Ethan Bear
Mike Smith
Calgary Flames Projected Lines
Johnny Gaudreau – Elias Lindholm – Matthew Tkachuk
Andrew Mangiapane – Sean Monahan – Dillon Dube
Milan Lucic – Mikael Backlund – Joakim Nordstrom
Sam Bennett – Derek Ryan – Brett Ritchie
Mark Giordano – Christopher Tanev
Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson
Juuso Valimaki – Michael Stone
Jacob Markstrom
Game Notes
After tonight’s game, all eyes will point towards Monday’s trade deadline. Today, Alex was able to report that the Oilers are involved in trade calls regarding Mike Hoffman from St.Louis and Buffalo’s Taylor Hall and Riley Sheehan. It will certainly be interesting to see if Ken Holland does indeed make a move for one of these players for the postseason.
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