Game 10 review – Another loss to the Flames

I don’t know about you but when the NHL schedule come out in July the very first thing that I do is look for the games against my teams biggest rival. Since I’m just crazy about the Oilers, the games I’m looking for are the ones against Calgary. I make sure that I keep my calendar open for the games in Edmonton and I look for a game I can drive down to Calgary to catch.

The games played in the Battle of Alberta are some of my favorites out of any season so you can imagine the pain that it’s causing me to see my beloved Oilers with a 0-2-1 record against the Flames. That all those losses have come in a short 22 day stretch is the equivalent of rubbing salt into the wound.

Unlike the first two games these two teams played it wasn’t a bad bounce that cost the Oilers the win. Last night it was the Flames desire to win battles that cost the Oilers the win. Nystrom had a goal and Dawes had two. Those are not the Flames skill players, they’re grinders, third and fourth line players that work hard on every play. Nothing flashy just hard nosed play. Last night they played exactly that kind of game, the Oilers didn’t, and the result was a win for Calgary.

Edmonton had a chance to win though. They scored the first goal on their first powerplay of the game and had momentum but then gave up a shorthanded goal on their next powerplay. On that goal Grebeshkov made a terrible play at the blueline that resulted in a two on one, then Gilbert misplayed the two on one allowing the pass across to Bourque who put it into the back of the net – momentum gone.

Had the Oilers decided to play the first half of the second period perhaps the outcome would have been different. But they didn’t and shortly past the midpoint of the period the score was 4-1. Penner’s eighth goal of the season closed the gap to two but that was as close as the Oilers would get.

The best chance they had to get back into the game was a 47 second two man advantage and another 3:06 of powerplay time after that to start the third period. With fresh ice and the intermission to plan the powerplay and to rest this was their chance. During the powerplay the Oilers put some pucks on the net, generated three scoring chances, and hit a post – unfortunately they didn’t score. When Dawes added a powerplay marker – a shot Khabibulin should have stopped – at 12:27 that all but ended the Oilers hopes of another three goal comeback.

All in all I don’t think that the Oilers necessarily played a bad game but they didn’t play a really good game either. When you’re on the road against your biggest rival you’ve got to come out fast and hard, the Oilers didn’t do that. You’ve got to be willing to go into the tough areas to get puck, I didn’t see the Oilers doing that. The result was another loss to our southern neighbours.