The Edmonton Oilers have a chance to not only defeat their provincial rivals tonight, they can also climb back to the .500 mark and win their fourth game in four tries on a current five-game homestand.
The last time the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames met, both teams were battling for position in the Western Conference standings.
At the time, Edmonton stood at 7-11-1 and Calgary at 7-8-3. The Oilers have been a slightly above .500 team since that time, but Calgary – on the strength of a hot December – has moved into a tie for the top spot in the Northwest Division almost solidifying a playoff spot.
In December, the Flames put together a record of 9-1-4 and then followed that up with three more wins to start 2008.
Last Tuesday night was only Calgary’s second regulation loss in a span of 17 games. The Flames followed that up with a shootout loss to the New York Islanders at home Friday night.
Calgary’s success can certainly be looked at by Edmonton as concrete proof that a hot stretch can get any team back in the playoff race. The Oilers’ play has been strong of late and if they keep it up a playoff spot is not out of the realm of possibility.
The Oilers are now five points behind St. Louis for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Northwest Division after winning their third straight on Thursday night, 5-2 over the Phoenix Coyotes.
This is the fourth meeting of the season between the two Alberta rivals and second at Rexall Place. Calgary won 3-1 at Edmonton and 4-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary while Edmonton won 4-2 in Calgary in November.
LINEUP UPDATE (11:05 AM): Joni Pitkanen will return to the lineup tonight after missing the last game with the flu. Dick Tarnstrom will be a healthy scratch... Mathieu Garon starts his sixth straight game tonight.
OILERS TO WATCH: Mathieu Garon has started each of the Oilers' last five games and is 4-1-0 in those starts with a 2.14 GAA (11 GA in 309 MINS) & .931 save pct. (149 saves - 160 shots)... Sam Gagner has done well against the Flames in his young career.
Calgary is one of the teams his father Dave played for and he has scored two of his three goals this season against them. Gagner also has an assist for three points in three games… Shawn Horcoff, named to the Western Conference All-Star Team on Thursday, also has two goals and an assist in three games against the Flames…
Andrew Cogliano has a goal and two assists against Calgary while Robert Nilsson, whose father Kent also played for the Flames, has a goal and an assist in two games.
Calgary has been much better on the road this season than they were in 2006-07. The Flames are 12-7-1 away from the Saddledome and only 10-8-7 on home ice.
Last year, it was reversed with the team holding a record of 30-9-2 at home and 13-20-8 on the road... With three straight wins at home, Edmonton's record at Rexall Place has improved to .500 at 11-11-1...
The Oilers have now picked up a power play goal in five straight games, their longest such streak of the season.
Previously, the Oilers had scored a power play goal in three straight games on two separate occasions... Calgary's power play on the road is 20.0% which ranks 7th in the NHL.
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