As the Edmonton Oilers continue their 6 game season opening home stand tonight they take on their provincial rivals in the Calgary Flames. The Calgary Flames are also 1-0 to start the season. This is going to be a good game as these are two teams that have Stanley Cup aspirations.
In order to win this game the Edmonton Oilers are going to need to play a strong game in all parts of the ice. On top of playing a solid game here are 3 more things the Edmonton Oilers need to do to win this game.
1. The Edmonton Oilers Need To Start At The Drop Of The Puck
Last game against the Vancouver Canucks the Edmonton Oilers had a very bad start. They gave up two quick goals in the first period then after that they let in one early in the second. They were down 3-0 before they started to pick up their game. They eventually won 5-3, imaging if they would have played a whole 60 minutes.
They can’t do that tonight against this Calgary Flames team. The Flames are a much stronger team than the Canucks are. If the Oilers give up a lead like that tonight I don’t think there will be much chance of them crawling back.The Flames have a solid team that has much better defence than the Canucks. The Oilers will be lucky to even score 5 goals let alone 5 goals in a row.
2. Play Discipline Hockey
On Wednesday the Edmonton Oilers gave the Vancouver Canucks 8 powerplays. It doesn’t what which team you are playing against 8 is way to many. The Oilers were lucky to kill off all but one of them.
Just like the Flames defence are better than the Canucks defence, the same can be said about their powerplay. The Calgary Flames powerplay has a little bit more firepower than the Canucks powerplay. The thing about powerplays early in a season is they may take a while to get going, so the less chances you give the better off you are.
On the other hand if you can draw Calgary into some penalties then that would be perfect. The Edmonton Oilers powerplay went 3/4 on Wednesday, so there is no rust on the Oilers end of things. They picked up right where they left off. Mostly cause they have had the same group for 3 years now.
3. Get To Dan Vladar Early
Being the backup goalie is never an easy task in the NHL. It is even harder when you are playing behind one of the leagues best. Dan Vladar is in the exact spot. Markstrom is one of the leagues best goalies(except against Edmonton) so Vladar doesn’t get many starts.
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When he does get a start, like he will tonight, you need to get on him early. When a starting goalie plays regularly they get in a groove, backup goalies need to be ready wherever and whenever. That is the case tonight.
Going into the season there would have been nobody that said Vladar will be getting the start tonight, but with Markstrom having issues against the Edmonton Oilers as of late the move almost makes sense.
It shouldn’t matter why Markstrom isn’t playing, but the Oilers need to take advantage of the backup goalie. Vladar being in should really hopefully help point 1 and let the Oilers get a quick start.
In a long season that has barely started this is one of the games that I was looking forward to watching. For one reason I want to see how the new look Flames play differently than the last year team. The other reason is as an Edmonton Oilers fan I am always down to beat up on the Calgary Flames.