Oilers Need Improved Puck Luck To Beat Flames

Finn Marceau

Nov 3, 2024, 19:03

Finn Marceau

Nov 3, 2024, 19:03

This season's Battle of Alberta has been ruled by percentages.

They say revenge is a dish best served cold.

The Oilers will need to stay hot, however, to exact revenge on their greatest rival after their first meeting of the year ended in disappointment. On the other side, the Calgary Flames have been, ironically, ice-cold over the past two weeks after a blazing start to the season. These two teams have taken vastly different paths so far, but tonight's Battle of Alberta could end with the Oilers and Flames sporting identical records.

The first Battle of Alberta of the season marked an early low point for the Oilers, as they were flat outplayed by the Flames on home ice to drop to 0-3 on the season. The Flames, meanwhile, were on their way to a 5-0-1 start, making the Oilers' 2-4 start feel even worse.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5VAuTXeTvw[/embed]

However, since their shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 22nd, the Flames have been in free-fall, dropping four straight games by a combined score of 19-6 before finally finding a win against New Jersey on Friday. The Oilers got hot as Calgary cooled down, with points in four of their last five games and wins in three of their last four.

Tonight's game at the Saddledome could be an inflection point for both teams -- two ships passing in the night as the Oilers try to make good on their pre-season contender status and the Flames slowly slide down to their expected place near the bottom of the standings.

For the Oilers, that means two things: they need more secondary scoring, and they need to keep the puck out of their own net. That may seem overly simplistic, but it's been easier said than done so far this season.

They saw improvement on both counts in their 5-1 victory over Nashville on Thursday, as Zach Hyman and Viktor Arvidsson finally scored their first goals of the season and Calvin Pickard made 26 saves on 27 shots.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l75NMJYGslA[/embed]

In the end, this game might just come down to whose luck can hold, because both teams' seasons have been ruled by percentages thus far. The Flames rode a high shooting percentage and solid goaltending on their early hot streak before the scoring dried up and the goaltending cratered at the end of October.

The Oilers, of course, have been plagued by rotten luck all season, with the league's second-worst shooting percentage (7.3%) and fourth-worst save percentage (.875). It feels like I'm beating a dead horse here, but it's undeniable that the Oilers have just been horrifically unlucky.

Hopefully for Edmonton, Thursday's win was a sign of things to come, and the team's depth scoring has finally started to wake up in Connor McDavid's absence. An Oilers regulation win would leave both Alberta teams with a 6-5-1 record. The Oilers surely hope that would be the last time that they share a record with their provincial rival this season.

Tonight's game gets underway at 6:00 PM, on Sportsnet and Sportsnet One.

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