Battle of Alberta in Saddledome

Edmonton Oilers vs Calgary Flames 1-2 SO (0-1, 0-0, 1-0, 0-1SO)

Edmonton headed into enemy territory without making any lineup changes from the team that came back from a 0-2 deficit to win against the Canucks. Calgary, on the other hand, had enjoyed no such luck, being on a three game losing streak. Still, the Flames held a solid 4th place in the West, standing at 23-13-2.

The opening minute brought nothing but dread for the Oilers, first Nolan Yonkman lost his fight against Kyle McLaren, then Calgary was allowed to score an easy opening goal. The metaphorical peeing on the electric fence was followed up by a sequence of excellent penalty killing on Edmonton's part, riding the bull until the beast ran out of steam - almost scoring a short handed goal in the process.

The teams manouvred vehemently in the second, frequently matching lines, involving many changes on the fly, but with no fruitful outcome for either side. The best chance, coming from a well placed Hemsky shot, was turned away magnificently by Kiprusoff.

Hemsky did find the net, however, a few minutes into the last period. During a linechange, Moreau managed to poke the puck free while going toward the bench to change, springing Hemsky through on goal - and the Czech speedster made no mistake. The deadlock continued for the remainder of the period.

Overtime provided only scattered offense, as most of the time was spent by altruisticly staying away from body checks and giving up the puck. The inevitable shootout followed, where Finnish Kiprusoff made a dent in the pride of the Russian Khabibulin, by saving all the shots and taking home the win. Dawes scored the Flames' winner.

Post game: Predictably close. There was little between the teams, neither of which had particularly impressive games, especially offensively. Much credit to the goaltenders, though there was little in terms of traffic, screens and willingness to fight for rebounds by the attackers. Suffice to say, a rather lethargic "Battle" of Alberta, though undeniably more disappointing for the Oilers fans.


Scoreboard
1st Period:
CAL - Walker (Backlund, Nagy)

2nd Period:
EDM - Hemsky (Moreau, Falardeau)

3rd Period:
-


Injuries/Misconducts/Etc.
-

Lines:
Penner - Gagner - Hemsky
Cogliano - Laich - O'Sullivan
Axelsson - Krysanov - Moore
Moreau - Falardeau - Stone

Babchuk - Visnovsky
Smid - Gilbert
Grebeshkov - Yonkman

Khabibulin
(Hiller)