In a perfect world this Saturday matchup against an old rival would have Playoff implications of some kind to underpin the game. Sadly the air has been taken out of this game due to the fact that neither team will be competing for the playoffs this year. However, as a fan of the Oilers it is still my sworn duty to hate the Flames and Hate I shall.

But the Battle of Alberta doesnt need two playoff bound clubs to get the fire back that it has lost, though it does need some physicality and some consistency. There was a time when the Oil knew that Regehr was going to paste Hemsky into the boards every chance he could and the 2 points on the line would never be harder to earn.

Now that guarantee isnt there. There are physical flare-ups (like Ference punching Stempniak's tooth out) but the ever-present threat is gone, or at least it has been. As these two teams work towards climbing the NHL standings these games will begin to mean more. I hope.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

The Trade market opened up last night with the Miller/Ott trade to St Louis and that will be the first of a few Dominoes, I think. Some big names moved places and with still several days before the Deadline the focus will shift to other targets. This is the best thing that can happen with regards to Edmonton's status on the trade market.

Given that the Oiler players who are available belong in that 2nd tier of assets, the sooner the 1st tier guys start to move the sooner teams looking for depth turn to Edmonton. Everyone wanted Miller, but if a team still wants a Goalie then maybe now they might see Bryzgalov as the next best option.

Reports are surfacing that the Oilers have already offered Bryz to Minnesota and it's safe to assume that MacT has likely shopped him around the League. If the reports are to be trusted then that would also suggest that the Oilers are looking at Scrivens to their full-time starter but that's maybe getting ahead of ourselves a bit.

The Buffalo trade also (somewhat) crosses Stewart and Ott off the list of available forwards on the market. There is the potentiality that Buffalo flips Stewart again but if not then that moves Hemsky up by 2 spots on list.

The trades are starting to happen. This could be an exciting time.

LINEUPS

Yakupov took a slapshot off the ankle in the last game but he apparently has not broken it. The Oilers practiced yesterday as if he would be out for today's game but as of this morning it had not been determined whether or not he would play. The Oilers have decided to get Bryzgalov the start. Eakins claims it's to get him playing again after the long break, but one has to wonder if Minnesota or others wanted to see one last game before they made a decision on Bryz. These were the lines they ran in practice yesterday.

Hall RNH Hemsky
Perron Gagner Eberle
Hendricks Gordon Joensuu
Gazdic Smyth Jones

N. Schultz J. Schultz
Marincin Petry
Fraser Ference

Bryzgalov

OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME

1) Be Physically Present. The Oil are getting better at this. Last game Lil Nuge took a crosschecking penalty while defending himself, but Petry took some heat for staying 40 feet away from danger. I think Hendricks is going to be a great addition to the BOA. The Flames are going to hate him.

2) CLR. Calcium Lime and Rust remover may be needed for this group. I vastly overestimated their ability to knock the rust off early in their last game. Hall looked particularly bad for the 1st 2 periods. Can we assume they are good to go now?

3) Shots From The Point. They arent getting through if they're being attempted at all. The Oil need their Defensemen to generate some kind of offense 5v5 and on the PP.

Puck drops tonight at 8:10PM mountain time on CBC. Game On!

Follow me on Twitter @Archaeologuy

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