Oilers Gameday – @ Flames

Edmonton plays the second half of back to back tilts tonight in Calgary for round one of the Battle of Alberta. The rivalry that used to be for NHL supremacy has turned into a basement brawl the last few seasons, with the Oilers wandering in the desert and the Flames recently joining them.

Calgary brings a squad that is really lacking talent, but brings a hard-nosed, never say die, attitude to the rink every night and plays their hearts out no matter what. This is a tough team that really cares and is willing to sacrifice to win games, this is arguably the hardest working team in hockey right now.

Flames defender Ladislav Smid will play tonight, marking the first time he will face the only NHL team he has ever known, the Oilers. Smid was acquired by the Flames for two prospects just eight days ago.

From an Oilers perspective, things can’t really get worse. The Oilers have dropped six in a row, most recently a 3-1 decision to the Sharks last night.

The Oilers defensive play is arguably the worst in the league, and the team is really struggling to score goals. The team played really well in the last 35 minutes last night, but didn’t turn it up until down 3-1. That needs to change tonight. They’ll need that intensity for the full 60 minutes.

Last Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers fell 3-1 to the Sharks at home last night, in what proved to be a tale of two games really. The Oilers were flat out dominated from the opening face-off, evident by Logan Couture’s shot off the post in the opening seconds. Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl scored within two minutes of each other at the end of the period to put the Sharks up 2-0.

In the second, Patrick Marleau scored his easiest of the season off a pass from Jason Demers to put the Sharks up three, and really that was all she wrote. The Oilers kept fighting however, and actually outplayed the Sharks from this point on, firing multiple scoring chances on Alex Stalock. Nail Yakupov would finally connect at 12:48 on the PP to make it a 3-1 game.

The Sharks would stand tall in the third, and Alex Stalock would stop numerous good Oiler chances to give the Sharks the win.

Calgary: If Edmonton’s last game was terrible, then Calgary’s was pitiful. The Flames were thoroughly dominated by the Dallas Stars. Stephane Robidas scored 6:27 into the game to give Dallas a 1-0 lead, the only scoring in a quiet first.

The second was a little different, Tyler Seguin scored 1:19 in, and Jaime Benn added another tally just over three minutes later. Seguin would add his second at 8:32 of the period, and then Ryan Garbutt got in on the fun at 11:56, putting Dallas up 5-0. Matt Stajan would make it 5-1 late in the period with his second of the year.

Seguin would complete the hat-trick just 30 seconds into the third period, his second of his career. David Jones and Matt Stajan would add Flames goals, but Seguin’s fourth of the night would end the contest at 7-3.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Flames split their four meetings last year right down the middle, with the last meeting going the Flames way. The two sides met up in a Hockey Night In Canada battle back on April 13th, where the Flames dominated action. Mikael Backlund scored just 26 seconds into things to give Calgary a 1-0 lead. Edmonton would get it right back though, just over a minute later as Lennart Petrell would score his third goal of the year.

The Oilers scored again moments later, on what appeared to be a Nail Yakupov goal, but it was called off and all Oiler momentum was killed.

In the second, Dennis Wideman would score early on the power-play, while Sven Baertschi would add a tally just over five minutes into the period to make it 3-1 Flames.

In the final frame, Max Reinhart would score around the mid-way point to put the game away for the Flames, a 4-1 victory. As for the Oilers, this was the final straw in a downward spiral that saw GM Steve Tambellini lose his job.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oilers forward Taylor Hall is not happy. Hall was clearly frustrated after last night’s loss, and Gene Principe tweeted out that he had never seen Hall like that after a game before. The young star is the face of the franchise and is clearly sick of all the losing. I’m expecting the future captain and face of the Oilers to explode on the national scene tonight and put forth a great effort.

Calgary: Simple, defender Ladislav Smid. The hard-nosed defender brings his work ethic to the Flame lineup tonight and will take on the Oilers for the first time. Smid’s warrior like style and physical play will be a thorn in Edmonton’s side tonight. It’s going to be strange to watch Ladi play against the Oilers, and for the reason alone I’ll be keeping a close eye on him.

The Lineups:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Nail Yakupov – Sam Gagner – Ales Hemsky

Ryan Smyth – Boyd Gordon – David Perron

Luke Gazdic – Will Acton – Jesse Joensuu

Andrew Ference – Jeff Petry

Nick Schultz – Corey Potter

Anton Belov – Philip Larsen

Devan Dubnyk

Calgary Flames Lines:

TJ Galiardi – Matt Stajan – David Jones

Mike Cammalleri – Joe Colborne – Lee Stempniak

Sven Baertschi – Sean Monahan – Jiri Hudler

Tim Jackman – Mikael Backlund – Brian McGrattan

TJ Brodie – Chris Butler

Kris Russell – Dennis Wideman

Ladislav Smid – Shane O’Brien

Reto Berra