The Calgary Flames beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 to wrap up their final encounter in the 2017/18 season. Connor McDavid’s 6-game point streak also snapped in this game.
The Edmonton Oilers lost their fourth game in a row, this time against their provincial rival: the Calgary Flames. With both teams especially the Flames out of playoff contention, this final game between both franchises was all about pride on who is the better team in the beautiful province of Alberta.
Even though the Flames just won this game 3-2 last night, the overall series record between the two squads this year had the Oilers winning it three games to two. The Oilers did a lot of damage to the Flames playoff chances this year with those first three losses, so winning the last two is somewhat meaningless since they aren’t qualified for the playoffs.
Even though the season is winding down for the NHL by the end of next week, the Oilers still needed to snap their losing streak. This game was decided in the first period when Cam Talbot coughed up a couple of goals that he should have saved.
He did play a part in why the Oilers lost this game, but you can also blame his teammates for not playing defense and giving up a lot of turnovers. Odd-man rushes have been an Achilles Heel for this team all year-long.
What went wrong?
The power play for the Edmonton Oilers in this game was atrocious. They had five opportunities and probably had two good chances of scoring a goal or two. The worst part was that they gave up a shorthanded goal in the first period.
That sequence pretty much forced Cam Talbot to be pushed aside for Al Montoya. It’s surprising that the Oilers can make any team look good against them, especially against a team like the Flames who were on a 7-game losing streak before this game.
The surprising part of this game was that Connor McDavid’s point streak ended in this loss. He had a handful of chances by setting up his teammates for scoring opportunities or scoring for himself, but it wasn’t meant to be.
It wasn’t like the Calgary Flames were forcing him to take tough shots or had some excellent defensive scheme for him. This just wasn’t his game last night. Things like this were honestly bound to happen since he was the only guy to consistently show up to games and try to carry the offensive load for his squad.
The Edmonton Oilers have three games left on the schedule starting on Monday against the Minnesota Wild. They have nothing to play for except for their pride and to end their 4-game losing streak. Let’s see if they could do that tomorrow night.