The first full game of the season without superstar Connor McDavid was a huge success. Now, the Edmonton Oilers’ goal is to repeat their latest performance when they visit the Calgary Flames on Sunday.
The Oilers somewhat surprisingly limped out of the gate to start the season, but have won three of their last four games thanks to a dominant 5-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday. I got it.
It’s a confidence booster to get such an impressive win without McDavid, who is expected to miss two to three weeks with an ankle injury.
“I don’t want to play without Connor, but everyone’s gotten a little bit better,” Edmonton coach Chris Knoblauch said after the team’s practice Saturday. “I was also able to take chances, which I wasn’t able to do before.”
The Oilers advanced to the Stanley Cup Final last season and had high expectations, but they opened the new season with three consecutive losses, including a come-from-behind 4-1 loss against the Flames on October 13th. Edmonton won just two of their first seven games.
Defeating the Predators led the Oilers to believe they had righted the ship.
“We’re pretty confident. We’re not just a one-man team,” Edmonton forward Zach Hyman insisted. “We have a lot of elements that can step up. We’re happy to get the win and up until then we were confident as a group.
“Injuries happen to every team. We have the best player in the world and it’s a shame he’s not playing. It doesn’t help, but it’s important for other players to step up. It gives us an opportunity to play better. . . . I hope we’re a better team when he comes back.”
The Flames snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on home ice on Friday.
“We deserved the win. I think our effort was much better overall,” said Calgary forward Blake Coleman, who scored twice against New Jersey. “I thought we checked well and didn’t give up too much. And when we did that, Vladi (goaltender Dan Vladar) was great. That’s the way we have to play and we knows that, and we know we got away with it.”That’s been the case for a few games. It’s a tough brand in hockey, but that’s who we are when we go into the game. ”
Bradal, who stopped 22 shots in the shutout win, will find the back of the net against the Oilers and will break up the Flames’ rotation.
“This is a big win for us after losing a few games in a row. I want to point that out,” Vladar said. “Of course, today is a great day for me…but the most important thing is the two points.”
The Flames returned home after a horrific road trip that saw them lose two games by a combined score of 10-1 and suffer Calgary captain Mikael Backlund’s second setback in his 1,000th career game. Backlund was recognized before puck drop against the Devils.
“Michael is an emotional guy as well, so I think this probably means more to him than people realize just by the way he is,” Flames coach Ryan Husker said. “Even though we didn’t play well in the last game in Utah, I felt like we were a little bit closer to playing what we needed to do for our team to be successful. To see that accomplished on a special night for Mikael was great. It was even better.” ”
–Field level media
