I think it’s ridiculous that the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames only played each other three times this season, but despite my gripes with the NHL schedule makers, I was looking forward to the third and final installment of the Battle of Alberta. And once again, it was the Leon Draisaitl-led Oilers who pull out the victory.

I can’t even begin to express how happy I was to see Leon Draisaitl back in the lineup after missing the last four games with some type of a lower-body injury. Earlier in the week, Knoblauch seemed sure that Draisaitl might miss all three games this week, so it was a pleasant surprise to see that the Oilers’ MVP would be back in the mix for the third and final Battle of Alberta of the season. I don’t have to explain why the team is significantly better with No. 29 in the lineup, but it sure was nice to see him cruising around and driving the play when the puck was on his stick. There’s no replacing a guy like Leon in your lineup, and while I hope he didn’t rush back from whatever injury he was working through this past week, the team desperately needs him playing to help get this ship back on the rails.

And in the least surprising news of all time, Draisaitl was more than a handful to handle for the Flames. Shift by shift, Draisaitl kept manufacturing different opportunities for himself and his linemates, and it was only a matter of time before he would get on the scoresheet, which happened at 16:20 of the second period on a perfectly placed pass for Arvidsson to bury a shot at the backdoor. Then, when the Oilers were down by a goal late in the third period, who else by Leon to get the tying goal for his 50th of the year? Game winner in OT for good measure? Let’s add toss that on the pile too.

But why would we be surprised that he steps in after missing games and produces almost immediately? Leon has been the Oilers’ most consistent offensive weapon by a sizeable margin, and I want to thank the Hockey Gords for giving him back to us as quickly and safely as possible. Here’s hoping it lasts without further issues.

I never thought I would be so happy about a simple yet strong defensive performance as I was in last night’s 3-2 OT win. I know it took Leon Draisaitl factoring in on all three goals for the boys to pull off the result they wanted,  but you can’t ignore the small details they were doing a better job of at the other end of the rink. I thought the Oilers’ puck support was much stronger against Calgary than it was in their prior two games.

Whether we’re talking about improvements in the defensive zone or the way the Oilers didn’t always fly the zone on the breakout, there was significant improvement in most areas compared to what we saw on Thursday in Seattle. It was night and day. Does it help that one of the best player in the league this season was back on the ice? Of course. But you also have to appreciate that the rest of the roster didn’t bleed chances when he wasn’t on the ice. One step at a time, friends.

I know the NHL likes every team to play each other a certain number of times blah, blah, blah, but 0nly having three Battle of Albertas on the 2024-25 schedule should be a ‘straight to jail’ punishment for whoever put this together. Even though it took most of two periods for the nastiness to start popping up, the playoff-like vibe of the night was a pleasure to watch. Both teams played with desperation and battled for space to make plays, and you could feel the tension ramping up at Rogers Place with every shift. Predictably, that tension started to bubble over on the ice and set the tone for a spicy finish.

My point here is that it makes no sense to have the Oilers and Flames playing each other only three times in a season. If the NHL wants to expand the league’s reach, how would it not make sense to have more games played between longstanding rivals? The Oilers and Flames have hated each other for decades, and having both teams fighting for playoff position made for some fantastic TV. If only we hadn’t been done for the year against Calgary after waiting since early November for the third and final installment. Change the schedule. Bring in more rivalry games. What are we doing here? Why would we only do this three times per year?

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, Saturday’s game between the Oilers and Flames was paused for several minutes shortly after puck drop when an emergency in the crowd required medical attention, and all I wanted to add here was to give our best wishes to the individual and family of whoever needed the help. Without knowing anything about the situation outside of someone needing help, I hope the quick action of the Oilers and Flames’ medical staff was enough to ensure the best-case scenario. What a blessing that professionals were already on hand when an emergency struck.

1. Every night, I send out good vibes into the hockey universe to help Viktor Arvidsson snap the cold spell that gripped him offensively for most of the season. I offer sacrifices if needed, I light candles, read daily proclamations, and whatever else I can think of to do my part in making this happen. So when I see him score again — Arvidsson has three goals in his last seven games I start to hope that there are some embers started to smoulder for the heater I’m manifesting for him. Maybe some smoke? Either way, Arvidsson scored his 11th goal of the game on a beautiful pass by Draisaitl that he wasted no time in burying.

2. Corey Perry didn’t like his lack of response after Stuart Skinner was hit by Mikko Rantanen last Wednesday at Rogers Place, and he clearly wanted to back up his words with the way he reacted after Calvin Pickard got snowed in the crease after covering the puck with his glove. The scrum wasn’t really materializing into much at first, but then a switch was flipped somewhere that caused Perry to grab Mikael Backlund and start giving him the business.

3. Anybody else seeing these sneaky two-point nights from Darnell Nurse starting to pile up?

4. I will need someone to explain what’s happening with Mattias Ekholm. Gregor mentioned a while back that it was a core issue of some kind, which always makes me nervous because I’m old enough to remember what happened to Martin Havlat. Havlat had one of those lingering issues that never seemed to get better, and it completely derailed some of what would have been the best years of his career. Of course, that Havlat situation may be lightyears away from whatever Ekholm is dealing with, but I keep thinking about it anyway with each passing game that he’s not on the ice.

5. After getting yanked after the second period in Seattle, Calvin Pickard rebounded nicely with a .929 save percentage on 28 shots on goal. This was a game the Oilers needed to win, and by no means was Pickard able to mail it in because he was called upon to make some big saves. I don’t know when Skinner is going to be back, but our pal Cal is the guy right now and we need him throwing down more efforts like this one.

6. I dislike this Dustin Wolf fellow, mostly for the goaltending but also a little bit because part of me hoped he was a real wolf. That’s on me tho.

7. Hockey Night in Canada is about our love of the game, our favourite team, one of the best rivalries in sports, and the fact that the Oilers won an electric 57.1% of the faceoffs.

8. Stay tuned for some content from the Nation Vacation to Vegas that kicked off this morning for a group of 50 incredible Nation Citizens. I’m on a plane right now, in fact.

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