The Edmonton Oilers are coming off a duo of convincing wins against the Winnipeg Jets while in the southern part of the province the Calgary Flames are almost officially dead in the water after another loss to the Montreal Canadiens, the team they need to catch. Mathematically the Flames still have a chance but right now these organizations are about as far about as possible.

A win tonight in regulation by the Oilers wouldn't all but seal the Flames demise for the 20/21 season. Meanwhile Calgary would love to get their own shots in and prove they can match up against one of the top teams in the league. The Battle of Alberta this season has been a mixed bag with some blow outs on both sides but nothing that has come close to the intensity of last season's games. There are two more chances this season to see some fireworks fly.


OILERS LINE COMBINATIONS

Kahun – McDavid – Puljujarvi
RNH – Draisaitl – Yamamoto
Shore – McLeod – Archibald
Neal – Haas – Chiasson

Nurse – Barrie
Kulikov – Larsson
Jones – Bear

Smith

FLAMES LINE COMBINATIONS

Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk
Mangiapane-Monahan-Ritchie
Lucic-Backlund-Dube
Nordstrom-Ryan-Robinson

Giordano-Tanev
Nesterov-Andersson
Valimaki-Stone

Markstrom

4 GAME THOUGHTS

1.) Yamamoto Breakthrough - I counted at least 3 different grade A opportunities for Kailer Yamamoto in the last game against the Jets and if Hellebuyck hadn't made some brilliant saves he likely would have another goal or two on his stat card. Yamamoto is as feisty as they come and when he is moving his feet like he was last night he is at his most dangerous.

2.) Barrieing Down on 50 - Tyson Barrie has been excellent in providing offense for the Edmonton Oilers. Tyson Barrie is 9 points shy of 50 points with 9 games to go. While all eyes are rightfully on McDavid hitting 100 this would be an impressive achievement as well. The last Oilers defenseman to hit 50 points was Sheldon Souray in 2009 (53 points in 81 games).

3.) Next Goal Post - Ryan McLeod has played two solid games thus far but sooner rather than later the team is going to need him and his line to contribute some points. This will be McLeod's first BoA and that seems like as good a time as any to register his first NHL point.

4.) Don't Fall Asleep - Good ol' Sutter hockey is alive and well in Calgary. The Flames have not produced much offense at all this season and have compensated by preventing anyone else from scoring either. Similar to their early struggles with Montreal, Edmonton needs to find a way to break through and produce.

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