The Edmonton Oilers faced off against their bitter rivals the Calgary Flames in a Battle of Alberta showdown to kick off their set of home-and-home games for their set of rookie camp games.
The Flames held out to beat the Oilers by a score of 6-5 as the team failed to complete their late game comeback led by top prospect, Matt Savoie.
Although the team lost, failing to complete the comeback, it showed a lot of skill and effort in the rookies both a good sign and a testament to the type of players that the Oilers brass have been adding to their system in recent years.
Flames standouts
First, touching on the Flames prospects; there were some clear heavy hitters with players like Matvei Gridin, Samuel Honzek, and Henry Brzustewicz as a few notable players. Gridin scored multiple goals and set up some very high quality chances. Honzek was occupying the net front well and tipped in a goal (from a Gridin shot).
Brzustewicz is a player who has turned into a standout prospect in recent years and it is evident why. He moved with the confidence of a professional player and was creating offence and moving the puck at a high rate and consistently looked lethal from the backend.
Oilers standouts
The Oilers in their own right looked very strong and saw quite a few players have standout performances. First and foremost Savoie was an instrumental part of kickstarting the team's comeback attempt in the third period, scoring his first goal off a penalty shot and then scoring a second later in the frame.
He looked great all night, he was zooming all over the ice, putting pressure on his opponents and playing with high pace. The entire top line of Ike Howard, Josh Samanski, and Savoie looked like a step above the rest. Howard -- who was recently ranked amongst the best prospects in the NHL -- was making consistent subtle plays that screamed "NHL ready" with quick reads and reactions that are necessary for a player of that calibre.
Samanski I felt started off a little slow but after a few shifts was able to get his feet under him. Although on the powerplay he was mainly planted in front of the net, using his 6'5 frame to battle and take up space he also showed some good offensive instincts being able to chase down loose pucks in the corners and cycle it to his teammates. If he can keep that up and build on that, he has the foundation of an NHL player.
Some other notable Oilers were recent No. 10 ranked prospect Quinn Hutson who, especially on the powerplay showed some interesting skills. He was buzzing around the zone, making quick passes and finding open seams, hitting his teammates with accurate passes.
Viljami Marjala was also quite interesting to me, he opened the scoring in the game off of a mile long breakaway, showing his slick skills with the puck. The second line in general with Rhett Pitlick, Marjala, and Hutson looked quite lethal.
Forward Connor Clattenburg likely engratiated himself with many Oilers fans, scoring a goal and fighting a player, standing up for his teammate who was subjected to a dirty hit by the Flames Gridin.
Aside from them, I felt that defencemen Damien Carfagna and Beau Akey looked quite good on the backend with the former being the main powerplay quarterback. Akey looked quite poised with the puck and despite being labelled as an offensive leaning two-way defender, he should be capable of adjusting to a more defensive game in the professional ranks.
The Oilers rookies will face off against the Flames rookies once again on Sunday, September 14th in Calgary.