On Saturday evening, the Edmonton Oilers returned to Rogers Place to host the Calgary Flames, the final time the two Alberta teams will meet in the regular season. Leon Draisaitl’s return to the lineup had an impact, as he scored the final two goals — his 50th and 51st of the year — to lead the Oilers to a 3-2 overtime win. Let’s take a look at what happened in this one! The Flames opened the scoring nearly five minutes into the first period. Calvin Pickard saved Nazem Kadri’s original rush shot, but the rebound went right into the slot for Yegor Sharangovich, who slammed it home for the 1-0 lead.
With just under four minutes left in the third period, Leon Draisaitl’s pass squeaked through to Viktor Arvidsson on the weak side, with the Swedish winger burying it past Flames netminder Dustin Wolf to knot the game up at one.
The Flames restored their one-goal lead with about 12 minutes left in the third period. Once again, it was the trailer who scored, as no backchecking forward picked up defenceman Brayden Pachal.
Thankfully, the Oilers have Leon Draisaitl. With just over three minutes left in the game, the German had a rush chance and ripped it by Wolf top cheddar for his fourth 50-goal season.
The German did it again midway through overtime, as he snapped it past Wolf off the post and in to clinch the win for the Oilers.
Takeaways…
Before we start looking at the takeaways of this game, some things are just bigger than hockey. Early in the game, there was a medical emergency in the crowd. We here at Oilersnation are wishing nothing but the best for that fan.
It’s nice to have Leon Draisaitl back in the lineup. For the fourth time in his career, the German hit the 50-goal mark thanks to his late tally in the third period. The only other active player who has scored 50 goals in a season more than four times? Alexander Ovechkin. The 51st goal on the game-winner was just the cherry on top. Draisaitl formed the centre piece of a trio with Viktor Arvidsson and Vasily Podkolzin and was easily the Oilers’ best line in this game. Arvidsson picked up his 11th of the season, and Podkolzin had plenty of chances while drawing a penalty and taking a penalty.
When the Flames and Oilers are both good, the temperature rises. Late in the second period, Calvin Pickard was bumped by Flames captain Mikael Backlund with Corey Perry on the ice. This time, the 39-year-old took exception to it, starting a little tussle which saw Backlund on his back. Calvin Pickard had a strong game, saving 26 of 28 shots for a .929 save percentage. He made a handful of strong saves in this game and gave the Oilers a chance to win. While I want to see Olivier Rodrigue make his first NHL start just to see what the Oilers have in him, it’d be hard to deny Pickard a start in their next game.
With the win, the Oilers move to 89 points thanks to a 42-26-5 record; however, the Kings have the first (and second) tiebreaker thanks to fewer games played (and more regulation wins). Home ice advantage is going to come down to those two games the teams play in April.
It’s crunch time for the Oilers. Next up is a game against the Vegas Golden Knights in Sin City on Tuesday. That’ll start a four-game road trip where they’ll also face the San Jose Sharks, Kings, and Anaheim Ducks.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365
