GDB 2.0 Wrap Up: Oilers were awful to start, fall 4-3 to Flames

Things Worth Mentioning…

• Backlund opened the scoring (1-0) on a rebound right in front of the net that he was able to slide through Campbell’s legs. Not a great defensive effort if I’m being honest.
• Cody Ceci tied the game (1-1) only moments after the opener after he picked the puck up in the high slot and ripped it past Vladar. Hell of a shot by Ceci.
• Michael Stone restored Calgary’s lead (2-1) with a seeing eye clapper from the point that made its way through traffic and past Campbell down low.
• Nazem Kadri gave the Flames some insurance (3-1) after he was charging down the wing and Brett Kulak fell, leaving a wide open lane for him to charge the net. To Kadri’s credit, he made a nice move to finish the play but this goal was 1000% avoidable.
• Andrew Mangiapane ended Campbell’s night with yet another goal (4-1) that came on the back of a complete disregard for defence. What a garbage effort by the Oilers here.
• Thank Gord for Connor McDavid for the way he tries to save us on a nightly basis. In the second, McDavid picked up his 4th of the year (4-2) on the power play after a nice little set up from Kane. I don’t know how many goals he’s going to score this year but my bet is 1000.
• Have I mentioned lately that I love Ryan McLeod? That’s what happens when he shelves a snipe (4-3) and pulls his team back into the game.
• The Oilers coughed up so many turnovers in this hockey game that you’d think they were running a bake sale. Embarrassing tbh. You know, I don’t expect an 82-0 season as much as I like to joke about it, but I do expect some effort.
• I know a lot of people are going to shit on Jack Campbell and I get it — he was not good at all and I’m not going to pretend he was — but I would also suggest that no one playing in front of him looked like they cared. At. All.
• I wanna give Stuart Skinner some love for the way he stepped in and calmed things down after a disastrous start to this hockey game.
• Seeing as the Flames had all kinds of roster turnover this summer, I was curious to see how spicy this game was going to get and while nothing fell off the rails, there was certainly enough sass to keep things interesting. What will be interesting to see now is how this first game affects what the mood is like on October 28th when the boys head down to Calgary.
• The power play continues to be amazing. Bless.
• I’m going to keep saying it until I bore myself, but these blue and orange jerseys are so beautiful that I almost get angry all over again when I think about how they were sitting on the shelf for the last six years.
• The funniest part about this loss is that Flames fans are acting like they won the Stanley Cup. I mean, I’d call it pathetic but it’s really all they know.
• I can’t even begin to tell you how frustrating that start was for the Oilers. Just awful and it pisses me off that they can’t start on time even in a game against their biggest rivals.

BETTER LAIT THAN NEVER