BATTLE OF ALBERTA IS WON
Koskinen, Oilers blank Flames
Edmonton Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock said his team has “a ways to go to catch the NHL’s top dogs, but playing against us right now should make teams nervous.”
Hitchcock said that Sunday after the morning skate and about 11 hours later his words echoed loud and clear after their 1-0 win over the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place, snapping the Flames’ winning streak at five games.
True, the Flames had beaten the Nashville Predators 5-2 at the Saddledome Saturday night and the Oilers hadn’t played since Thursday in a 3-2 shootout win in St. Louis, so fatigue could have been a factor.
But this was still a statement game as the Oilers moved into the second wild-card spot in the West with 34 points and a 7-2-1 record with Hitchcock behind the bench.
They’re six points back of Calgary.
Connor McDavid had the game’s only goal, whipping one past David Rittich 12 minutes into the game in a goaltending duel between Rittich and Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen, who now has three shutouts on the season. He had 24 saves on this night, while Rittich stopped 29 of 30 shots.
Koskinen, who has won all six of his starts at Rogers Place, has blanked Chicago, Dallas and now Calgary as well. He also beat the Stars 1-0, but it was in overtime on Oscar Klefbom’s goal.
They held Calgary to four third-period shots.
CLOSING IN ON SCORING LEADERS
McDavid, making a December charge to try to reel in the Colorado Avalanche’s Mikko Rantanen in the NHL scoring race, moved within seven points of the Finnish right-winger when he beat Rittich from 30 feet out for his 11th goal in 14 games against the Flames. He had one-third (five) of the Oilers’ 16 shots in the opening frame. McDavid has 41 points on the season.
COACHING IS A CHALLENGE, RIGHT?
Yeah, it’s getting the right players on the ice, but for Hitchcock it’s also knowing when to debate a goal. He challenged slugger Anthony Peluso for having his left foot in the blue paint, blocking Koskinen from getting his left pad across to stop the tip of Oliver Kylington’s point shot in the middle period and, after a video look, they wiped out the goal. Ten days ago, the Oilers coach also challenged a Tyler Toffoli goal on Koskinen, claiming offside well before the score. Won that, too, so he’s 2-0.
LET’S NOT DANCE, SHALL WE?
Flames farm call-up Peluso, summoned to ride the range, didn’t like Milan Lucic’s wallop on Travis Hamonic along the wall 15 minutes into the game even though it was loud and pretty clean (the puck might not have been in the photo frame, so maybe interference) and exchanged in some fistic fury. No real harm with the linesmen stepping in when Peluso’s helmet came off. Decision to Lucic. It was the first fight of the season (69th of his career) for Lucic, who was very effective in a banging role and nobody wanted to go anywhere near him — stare or not.
FLASHING THE LEATHER
Rittich made a fantastic left glove stop on Ryan NugentHopkins deke backhand on a breakaway in the second, then 30 seconds later he dove to get his mitt on Leon Draisaitl’s inalone slapper that had ripped off the back boards and right into the crease. Rittich seems to have Draisaitl’s number.
He had two breaks in Calgary (one deke, one 20-footer and pad stop).
At the other end, Koskinen did a snow angel with his six-footseven frame to block Derek Ryan’s chance with 75 seconds left in the middle frame.
Helluva goaltenders’ battle.
DIFFERENT BATTLE OF ALBERTA
“I loved watching it, it was must-watch television. This series isn’t anything close to that. Two big teams going at it. They went to the edge and beyond, into the streets and into the rivers,” said Hitchcock, offering up a bit of fun hyperbole on the Battle of Alberta. The game was played like it was in the alley with anything goes.
SOMETIMES THE MITTS ARE COLD
Elias Lindholm, who came into the game with nine points in his previous five games to get him to 15th in NHL scoring, missed a sitter in the first minute of the third when a deflection popped right onto his stick five feet from Koskinen with an open net.
This ’n that: Bob Cole, who called the 1984 Stanley Cup clincher against New York Islanders here, did the play-byplay in his 50th year of Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts. He got a rousing salute from the fans at Rogers Place … The Oilers are 0-for-17 in their last five games on the power play, but they’re finding ways to win ... Zack Kassian was straddling the centre line during pre-game warm-ups for some gamesmanship and was chirping back and forth with Peluso … Alex Chiasson, one of hockey’s Cy Young candidates with way more goals than assists (12-2) coming in, made a sweet feed to McDavid. He put it right on a tee for the Oilers star … Draisaitl got an assist on McDavid’s goal, giving him points in seven straight home games.