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Oilers Wrap Up Homestand With Uneventful Battle Of Alberta
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- Oilers Wrap Up Homestand With Uneventful Battle Of Alberta
For a Battle of Alberta, last night's game between the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames wasn't much of a fight.
Edmonton shut out Calgary 4-0 to finish its five-game homestand with a 3-1-1 record, and aside from Ty Emberson dropping the gloves with Brennan Othmann and Colton Dach smoking Devin Cooley, there wasn't much of the hostility we've come to expect when these teams meet.
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The Flames arrived in Edmonton on a four-game winning streak, having beaten the Oilers in three of their four games last season, but left with a shutout loss, an injured starting goaltender, and very little to show for their trip up Highway 2.
Dach made heavy contact with Cooley late in the first period, and Dustin Wolf took over in Calgary's net to begin the second. The Oilers forward also made contact with Wolf in the third, although neither incident produced much of a response from the Flames.
"I mean, I hate going out for the second period and seeing him not lead their team out," Dach said of Cooley. "I'm just trying to take it to the net and create a chance. But really unfortunate that he got hurt."
Dach was then asked about Calgary's reaction.
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"I'm going to keep that on the ice. But yeah, they came and talked."
I don't think anybody wants to see a goaltender get injured, although it's a little surprising that Dach managed to make contact with both Calgary goalies without much happening afterward.
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The Battle of Alberta used to be good for a few fights, plenty of penalties, and at least one call that everybody would spend the next week arguing about. You know, all the stuff people love about hockey.
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The Oilers improved to 9-2-2, sitting second in the NHL, and finished a relatively comfortable stretch at Rogers Place with another two points.
There were some good games during this homestand, including a 4-3 overtime win over Minnesota and a 6-5 shootout win over the defending Stanley Cup champions, theCarolina Hurricanes. The Oilers also had a pretty ugly 7-2 loss to Toronto, followed by a 4-3 shootout loss to Detroit.
"We just didn't like the Toronto game. Every other game was OK," McDavid said. "Big wins against some good teams (Minnesota and Carolina) there early—it wasn't necessarily pretty. I don't like the Toronto game, but we were a minute away from winning the other night.
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"So there was lots to like from the homestand. Lots to build on too, as we continue to try and be better day in and day out."
Wednesday was a little more like what Babcock has been asking for.
Mathieu Joseph, Mattias Ekholm, Kasperi Kapanen, and Alex Formenton scored Edmonton's four goals, while McDavid, Bouchard, and Draisaitl's ice time was heavily decreased to 18:50, 22: 12, and 19:06, respectively.
Dach also had another strong game, continuing to make the most of his opportunity higher in the lineup.
"I thought Dacher played really well tonight. He was a huge factor," Babcock said. "He was in front of the net on the second goal, he was heavy, he was physical, he spent time in the O-zone... He gives us another dimension and … if you can have another (Zach) Hyman or (Vasily) Podkolzin that makes us a way better team. He's trying to become that."
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Tristan Jarry also recorded a shutout, though Edmonton played better defensively than in some of the games Devon Levi has played in during this home stretch.
"The big thing tonight is we had a good team game. Everybody was involved," Babcock said. "Jars, in the second period, had to make some saves. But overall we looked after him good and he didn't give up anything, so that's a really good night for him and a good confidence builder for him."
Edmonton is expected to head to New York with Jarry and Matt Tomkins, who has just six NHL starts to his name.
McDavid has 36 points through 13 games, extending his season-opening point streak, while Babcock has been getting some encouraging results from players like Dach, Joseph, and Kapanen.
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A 3-1-1 homestand is a pretty reasonable result, especially with wins over Minnesota, Carolina and Calgary.
And while last night's Battle of Alberta won't be remembered as one of the more entertaining meetings between these teams, Edmonton got four goals from outside its usual offensive leaders, a shutout from Jarry, and another strong performance from Dach.
Aside from a few injuries and one particularly ugly game against Toronto, it's been a relatively relaxing stretch at Rogers Place.
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