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(P1) CALGARY FLAMES VS. (P2) EDMONTON OILERS
It’s been a while since the Battle of Alberta has been big enough to capture the attention of NHL fans everywhere. Certainly these teams haven’t been lacking in star power. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins have been with the Oilers for a while now and on the Flames side, Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, and Elias Lindholm have been united for four years. Those are two enviable cores, but both franchises have struggled to build around them.
Going into this year, Edmonton hadn’t won a playoff series since 2017 and Calgary’s last journey to the second round was in 2015. On top of that, the Flames missed the playoffs entirely in 2020-21 and while the Oilers got to the postseason last year, they were swept by the Winnipeg Jets. Both of these teams had a lot to prove going into 2021-22 and to their credit, they have made great strides.
The Flames looked great in their first full season under bench boss Darryl Sutter. Their star trio of Gaudreau, Tkachuk, and Lindholm each scored 40 goals and goaltender Jacob Markstrom bounced back from a rough 2020-21 campaign to have arguably his best season to date. The result was that the Flames cruised to a 50-21-11 record.
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In the first round against Dallas, the Flames bumped into goaltender netminder Jake Oettinger who nearly stole the series. Oettinger posted a 29-save shutout in Game 2 and then stopped 39 of 41 shots in Game 3 and then 50 of 53 shots in Game 4. Oettinger carried the Stars all the way to Game 7 and held his own in the decisive contest, stopping 64 of 67 shots, but he still ultimately lost in overtime. He finished the series with a 1.81 GAA and .954 save percentage.
The Flames were tested and bent but did not break. Even in the face of stellar goaltender, Johnny Gaudreau still had two goals and eight points in the seven-game series while Tkachuk and Lindholm held their own with six and five points respectively. If they could score under those circumstances, can the Edmonton Oilers hope to contain them?
Honestly, probably not, but that’s not where the Oilers’ strength lies. Edmonton had a more up-and-down season than Calgary. McDavid and Draisaitl were their usual dominate selves, scoring 123 and 110 points respectively over the course of the regular season. Free agent signing Zach Hyman held his own in his first season with the team too, providing 27 goals and 54 points in 76 games. However, after getting off to a 16-5-0 start, Edmonton faltered, falling to 18-16-2 by Jan. 20. GM Ken Holland made two decisions though that ended up being critical to the Oilers’ rebound.
First, he signed Evander Kane on Jan. 27. While Kane comes with a lot of baggage, no one can deny that he’s done what the Oilers’ hoped. He had 22 goals and 39 points in 43 games with Edmonton, providing the Oilers with another major scoring option to provide them with some of the offensive depth that they’ve typically lacked in recent years. Then on Feb. 10, Holland fired head coach Dave Tippett and replaced him with Jay Woodcroft. Woodcroft had earned his chance after leading AHL Bakersfield to a championship in 2021 and his voice has been what the Oilers needed. Edmonton went 26-9-3 for the rest of the regular season after he took over.
Edmonton faced the Los Angeles Kings in the first round and the Oilers were somewhat inconsistent. However, their star players came through. McDavid had four goals and 14 points in seven games while Kane also played a key role with seven goals and nine points. It’s believed that Draisaitl sustained a lower-body injury during Game 6, but he played through it and finished the seven-game series with five goals and nine points.
The Oilers other players chipped in here-and-there, but this is very much a team led by its superstars. It makes them fun to watch, especially against a rival like the Flames, but is that going to be enough to counter the Flames? Honestly, probably not. Calgary is the more complete team. They’re stronger defensively and have the better goaltender in the series in Markstrom. Edmonton should certainly make things interesting and if the stars align, they could end up pushing past the Flames, but the odds are stacked against them.
Players To Watch
Leon Draisaitl – The big X-Factor with Draisaitl is his health. As noted above, it’s believed that he was hurt in Game 6 and was playing through it in Game 7. He still had an assist in 22:38 minutes of ice time in the winner-takes-all contest, but will he be able to play at a high level throughout the series against Calgary? The Oilers rely heavily on Draisaitl, but for reasons outside of his control, he might not be at his best in this series.
Mike Smith – Smith wasn’t perfect in the first round, but he was very good, posting a 2.29 GAA and .938 save percentage in seven games against the Los Angeles Kings. The Calgary Flames will be a bigger challenge for him and the Oilers defense and one key to this series will be how Smith deals with that. For what it’s worth, Smith is very familiar with the Flames, both because he’s played against them regularly over the last three years with Edmonton and because he played for Calgary in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Andrew Mangiapane – Mangiapane set career-highs in 2021-22 with 35 goals and 55 points in 82 games. He was quiet in the Flames’ first round series though, scoring just a goal and two points in seven contests. Against the high-powered Edmonton Oilers, the Flames will naturally be hoping that Mangiapane steps up.
Tyler Toffoli – This is the time that the Flames acquired Toffoli for. He was solid in the regular season, scoring 11 goals and 23 points in 37 games with Calgary after being acquired from Montreal, but the Flames got him with the postseason in mind. In the first round though, he wasn’t a major contributor, finishing with just a goal and two points in seven games. The Flames don’t need Toffoli to lead their offense, but they are counting on him being an important secondary scorer.
Additional Series Notes:
Sean Monahan underwent hip surgery and isn’t expected to be available for the Calgary Flames in this series. Chris Tanev missed Game 7 of the Flames’ first round series because of an undisclosed injury, but he might be fine for the start of the second round.
On Edmonton’s side, Kyle Turris (upper body) and Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) are on the IR and LTIR respectively, but the Oilers are otherwise expected to have all their players available for Game 1.
After winning the first round, Flames head coach Darryl Sutter has 93 career playoff wins, which is good for seventh place on the NHL’s all-time list. If the Flames are able to beat the Oilers, then Sutter will surpass Pat Quinn (94 wins) and Mike Keenan (96 wins).
This is the first Battle of Alberta since 1991. In that series, the Oilers led by Esa Tikkanen, Craig Simpson, Mark Messier, and Glenn Anderson beat the Flames led by Theoren Fleury, Al MacInnis, Joe Nieuwendyk, and Doug Gilmour in seven games.
Calgary went 2-for-24 on the power play against the Dallas Stars in the first round. Naturally they’ll need to do better going forward. The Flames were a solid power-play team in the regular season with a 22.9% conversion rate.
Edmonton was the better power-play team in the regular season though, scoring on 26.0% of their opportunities. In the Oilers’ first round series, they scored seven power-play goals on 19 opportunities (36.8%).
In the regular season, Edmonton was extremely good at locking in their leads. The Oilers posted a 28-1-0 record on games where they led after the first period, which gave them the best winning percentage in the NHL in that scenario. They went 2-0 when leading through 20 minutes in the first round too.
Neither one of these squads are particularly physical. Edmonton ranked 15th in hits in the regular season with 1,853 while Calgary ranked 20th with 1,836. In terms of blocked shots, the Flames were 30th in the NHL with 955 and Edmonton tied for 25th with 1,018.
