The Flames may be eliminated from playoff contention but could make a statement against their playoff-bound provincial rivals
Calgary Flames (34-36-5, 73 points) versus Edmonton Oilers (46-24-5, 97 points)
One last Battle of Alberta for the season. One last chance for the Flames, eliminated from reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs, to earn some form of bragging rights against their rivals.
With the Flames — losers of two straight, seven of eight and with only two victories in 13 games (3-10-0) since the trade deadline — now playing out the string, there are very few reasons other than pride and building momentum for the future to be at their top level in terms of motivation. A Saturday night clash with the Oilers is about as good as any reason.
Calgary is expected to have Connor Zary back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch last outing, and Jacob Markstrom is slated to be in goal. Captain Mikael Backlund is a question mark. On defense, Dennis Gilbert is slated to play for the first time since March 7, inserted in place of Nikita Okhotiuk.
The Oilers punched their ticket to the playoffs with an impressive 6-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche Friday night, a game in which Connor McDavid reached the 30-goal mark and Leon Draisaitl netted his 100th point of the campaign. With Stuart Skinner minding the twine last night, expect to see Calvin Pickard between the pipes.
Edmonton boasts a 4-1-1 mark in the last six and has an outside shot at catching the Vancouver Canucks for top spot in the Pacific Division. With seven regular-season games remaining, the Oilers are five points back of the Canucks with one game in hand. Edmonton is also five points ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights in the battle for second place in the division, which is worth home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The Oilers have won two of the first three meetings this season, but the Flames took the last clash, a 6-3 game in Edmonton on Feb. 24.
Calgary
Forwards:
Blake Coleman-Mikael Backlund-Matt Coronato
Jonathan Huberdeau-Yegor Sharangovich-Connor Zary
Martin Pospisil-Nazem Kadri-Andrei Kuzmenko
A.J. Greer-Kevin Rooney-Dryden Hunt
Extra: Walker Duehr
Defence:
Oliver Kylington-Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar-Daniil Miromanov
Dennis Gilbert-Brayden Pachal
Extra: Nikita Okhotiuk
Goal:
Jacob Markstrom
Dustin Wolf
Markstrom has a career 15-16-2 record against Edmonton with one shutout, a 2.99 goals-against average and .900 save percentage. Wolf has never faced the Oilers.
Edmonton
Forwards:
Leon Draisaitl-Connor McDavid-Zach Hyman
Adam Henrique-Ryan Nugent-Hopkins-Warren Foegele
Evander Kane-Ryan McLeod-Corey Perry
Mattias Janmark-Derek Ryan-Connor Brown
Defence:
Mattias Ekholm-Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse-Cody Ceci
Brett Kulak-Vincent Desharnais
Goal:
Calvin Pickard
Stuart Skinner
Pickard has an 0-4-0 career mark versus Calgary with a 3.86 GAA and .879 SvPct. Skinner boasts a 4-1-0 mark with a 1.90 GAA and .946 SvPct. against the Flames
ICE CHIPS: This would be the first time the Flames have faced Calvin Pickard this season … In 44 career clashes with Calgary, Leon Draisaitl has collected 10 goals and 46 assists. Connor McDavid has netted 29 goals and 26 assists in 40 games against the Flames … Flames RW Andrei Kuzmenko is looking to run his point scoring streak to five games. He has collected four goals and three assists in the past four outings … MacKenzie Weegar, who needs one goal to reach 20 on the season, has found the scoresheet in five straight games, and collected three goals and eight points … Edmonton’s power play is ranked third in the league overall at 26.4% but is 16th on the road at 19.7%. Calgary’s penalty kill has unsurprisingly struggled since both Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin were traded away, and is down to 11th in the league (81.1%). Calgary has surrendered 10 power-play goals against in the past eight outings … The Flames are looking to score a power-play goal of their own for a fifth consecutive game for the first time this season … McDavid needs three assists to become only the fourth player in NHL history to collect 100 helpers in a season, joining a list that includes only Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky (who did it 11 times) and Mario Lemieux, the last person to reach that mark in the 1990-91 season.
