The Edmonton Oilers, short-handed without key parts last outing, will seek a huge rebound when they play host to their Battle of Alberta rivals, the Calgary Flames, on Saturday.
The Oilers (41-26-5, 87 points), who are likely to be without top scoring forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and No. 1 goaltender Stuart Skinner, are coming off a dismal 6-1 road loss to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.
“You’re never going to replace the players that we lost, but I think (Thursday) wasn’t a very good effort from us,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “But hopefully, it’s just a one-off.”
Edmonton, which also was without defenseman Mattias Ekholm, has lost three of its last four games. The Oilers remain third in the Pacific Division, two points back of the Los Angeles Kings.
The Oilers, who played at home the night before, were trounced thanks to the Kraken’s five-goal second period. The plan after that loss is to flush it away and prepare for the Flames.
“It’s an easy one to get up for,” said forward Zach Hyman, who scored the Oilers’ goal in Seattle and has collected five goals and two assists in a five-game point streak. “We haven’t played those guys in a while, and they’re in the hunt for a playoff spot, so it’ll be a good game.”
And a chance to put the stench of that loss in the past.
“It doesn’t matter if we lose a one-goal game or a big one,” Knoblauch said. “I think the effort over the last few games has been really good, and some of the games maybe could’ve went another way. But we definitely didn’t deserve to win. … Hopefully, we can turn the page and move on.”
The Flames will be looking for their own bounce-back, although the effort could not be questioned in their 5-2 home loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday.
Calgary (34-26-11, 79 points), outshot the Stars by a 48-19 margin — including 35-8 in the final two periods — and had a pair of goals disallowed by debatable calls. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak.
“The result sucks, but honestly I thought we dominated that game,” forward Joel Farabee said. “We were all over them, almost 50 shots, I mean that game probably should have been 3-1 us to start, could go either way. Can’t really mope and dwell on it, we’ve just got to get back. If we can play that intense and that style the rest of the year, I think we’re gonna get in.
Calgary is six points back of the St. Louis Blues in the chase for the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot, but has three games in hand.
Making the loss even worse, forward Connor Zary sustained a third-period injury when Mikko Rantanen fell into his legs. There was no word how long Zary would be out of action. Earlier this season, he missed 15 games due to a knee injury.
“It makes you sick to your stomach,” forward Blake Coleman said. “He’s a great kid (and) a big part of our team. He’s been through a lot. He worked hard to get back in the lineup and be a difference-maker for us.”
Calgary forward Nazem Kadri, who scored both goals against Dallas, has netted seven goals in a five-game streak. He has a team-leading 30 this season.
