EDMONTON — They were talking on an Edmonton sports radio station on Thursday about how this season opener was "there" for the Oilers. On a tee, they made it sound like.
A home opener. The 1984 team in the stands. The "lowly Calgary Flames" limping into town, like a Liberal candidate tip-toeing through a Southern Alberta ranch town. Nervous. Scared of the mighty Oil.
It made a listener wonder: Was this some far-flung sports radio signal, talking about an entirely different team or sport? What Oilers team have these radio Johnnies been watching for the past five years? And what Flames team?
More NHL on Sportsnet:
Subscribe: Rogers GameCentre Live
Rogers Hometown Hockey | Broadcast Schedule
Sportsnet Fantasy Hockey
By the time we were done on Thursday night at Rexall Place, the Oilers had dominated Calgary for the majority of 60 minutes, yet the Flames won going away by a 5-2 score. Edmonton looked like the better team — as long as you averted your eyes from the scoreboard — flying around the perimeter with the puck, skates ablaze. The Flames, a team of survivors, simply buried almost every chance they had, getting a hat trick from the ultimate survivor, former Maple Leaf and Canuck Mason Raymond.
"Obviously, the shots on goal after two periods (25-11), they were carrying the play for the most part. We knew that," Calgary centre Matt Stajan said. "But we did a pretty good job of keeping them to the outside. We didn’t give up any chances from right in the slot. Three of our goals, they came from right in the slot."
Location, location, location. Edmonton cycled and cycled around the edges of the Calgary zone, while the Flames had less chances — but they came from prime real estate. Ben Scrivens, who got the start despite being outplayed in training camp by Viktor Fasth, wasn’t as good as the guy at the other end, Karri Ramo, who stopped 38 shots.
In the end the shots on goal read 40-26 for Edmonton, but the score read 5-2 Flames. "If we do that every night, we’ll be all right," Edmonton head coach Dallas Eakins said.
Eakins’ mandate is clear: he must find a way to impart to his team that they played well, because Edmonton did not stink the joint out by any means. But he can’t let them believe that anything short of two points against a team of Calgary’s pedigree is not good enough.
There has been so much losing in this city over so many years, he has to change the culture — before the culture changes him.
"I’m worried about our team’s mindset," Eakins admitted. "I don’t want the last year, and then all the years before that, to turn into this giant snowball rolling (downhill). ‘Here it goes again.’
"We can’t have this tightness, having a grip come around us because we lost a game. I saw a team that was far, far different from last year. We’re not going to be patting each other on the back because we played a good game and lost. We have to get those mistakes figured out very, very quickly. And we will.
"Last year is gone," Eakins said.
The win ruined a party that started when Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Lee Fogolin came out to drop the ceremonial puck, all in town as part of the 30-year anniversary celebration of the Oilers first Stanley Cup in 1984.
"Well," said Raymond, whose Flames lost their home opener against Vancouver on Wednesday, "We had our big party spoiled last night."
In the past 12 seasons, Calgary has lost the season series to Edmonton just once. You can say the Oilers rebuild is a few years ahead of Calgary, but what’s that worth when the Flames still win the lion’s share of head to head meetings?
"If we get 40 shots on net every night, I like our chances," Oilers winger David Perron said. "Dallas came in (to talk to his players) after the game, and he doesn’t always do that. He told us, we have to find a way to get points out of a game like that."
Give the Flames credit — they walk out with a 1-1 record, and win their first of a perilous six-game road trip. But Calgary will have to be better than they were Thursday in Edmonton.
Because Thursday’s effort, against a team that knows how to win, won’t be good enough.