CALGARY – Despite moving into third place in the NHL this weekend as the hottest team in hockey, the Calgary Flames went to bed Sunday night feeling down.
That’s what a loss in the Battle of Alberta can do to a team – it can temporarily erase all the positives that have marked a run that has seen the Flames snag 19 of a possible 24 points as of late.
However, once they get back to practice Tuesday, you can bet the Flames will have sufficiently numbed the pain of being Connor McDavid’s latest victim.
In a tight, Ken Hitchcock-type game, the Oilers led 1-0 most of the way, the Flames continued to exhibit their newfound depth, throwing Saturday’s Stockton heroes Oliver Kylington and Alan Quine on the ice in the final two minutes.
Alas, the comeback Calgarians have seen so many times this year never materialized, giving the Oilers a 1-0 win and upping ol’ Hitch’s record to 7-2-1 with the new-look Oil.
Some takeaways from a battle rematch that left plenty to be desired compared to Round 1:
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BATTLE READY
The Flames summoned tough guy Anthony Peluso from Stockton just for their highly anticipated rematch with the Flames.
They also dressed rough and tumble blue liner Dalton Prout, which was necessitated by injuries more than anything else.
Given the vitriol of their first game Nov. 17 which saw 56 minutes in penalties, both sides were armed and ready for fireworks that never materialized this time around.
A hard, late hit by Milan Lucic on an unsuspecting Travis Hamonic in the first period somehow went unpenalized, but drew the attention of Peluso who coaxed Lucic into dropping the mitts.
The fight was broken up far too early to declare a winner, but it seemed the tone was set.
Other than a Darnell Nurse holding penalty on Matthew Tkachuk, a pair of Tkachuk crosschecks on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and a Sam Bennett drive into the chest of Koskinen, we saw none of the hatred that made the Flames’ earlier win so delicious for fans.
The game needs more of it back, no question, but with Hitchcock behind the bench, the Oilers were instructed to ignore the perennial pain in their side, Tkachuk.
In interviews before the game, they refused to even utter his name.
It worked, as Tkachuk had a rare quiet night.
That said, part of the Flames’ undoing was their five minor penalties, including three in the final period when they would otherwise have been pressing for the equalizer.
COLE-ING IT LIKE IT IS
Viewers were treated to that rare, sixth sense Bob Cole has for knowing when a goal or a great scoring chance is nigh.
Having a Cole broadcast on in the background, as so many Canadian households have for decades, allows people to turn to face the TV whenever the temperature of a game or a foray turns up.
Cole’s raised voice or other verbal cues have allowed preoccupied viewers to catch an ensuing goal, fight or scoring chance just in time.
A perfect example came midway through the second period when the Flames were in the midst of an extended push, prompting Cole to bellow, “Calgary is everywhere. Something is going to happen, you would think.”
Sure enough, seconds later, an Alan Quine point shot was deflected in off the knee of Anthony Peluso to tie the game 1-1. Temporarily.
Minutes later, the goal was disallowed following a review that showed one of Peluso’s feet in the crease, preventing Mikko Koskinen from tracking left to flag down the original shot.
Debate all you want about the league’s call on that one, but the call by Cole was sublime.
That iconic voice of his will be missed after this season – his 50th in the broadcast booth – a milestone that was recognized and given a warm, standing ovation from the Edmonton crowd that has listened to him call so many great Oilers moments over the years.
FIGHTING FIRE WITH FIRE
McDavid has long been fed a steady diet of Mikael Backlund and Mark Giordano every time the Oilers meet the Flames.
With the former dealing with a concussion and the latter serving the second of a two-game suspension, the Flames did well to all but shut down the Oilers top trio by committee.
Despite seeing more than seven minutes of power-play time, the Oilers captain only had five shots on goal and the one goal.
Yet, it was all the damage he needed to do.
It was a brilliant passing play that went through Leon Draisaitl and former Flame Alex Chiasson that led to McDavid’s 16th of the year midway through the first period that stood as the winner.
With the host Oilers having last change they made the interesting decision of matching McDavid’s line against Calgary’s top trio of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm in the opening period.
It made for a great battle of top talent before the Oilers opted to protect the lead by putting other lines on the Flames’ big boys from the second period onward.
NEXT UP FOR THE FLAMES
Wednesday at home against the Philadelphia Flyers.
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