The Edmonton Oilers will try to slow down the NHL’s best comeback team Saturday night at Rogers Place.
The Calgary Flames come to town, leading the league with seven wins when trailing after two periods. They also boast a league-leading 78 third-period goals.
“What makes Calgary good is they’re willing to work for their chances. They’re not trying to skill their way into chances,” said Oilers head coach Ken Hitchcock.
“When you look at the games when they come back, they do it because they’re willing to go into the hard scoring areas and get the job done.”
The Flames scored four times in the third period Friday night to beat Detroit 6-4. They lead the Western Conference with a record of 31-13-5 and are 6-0-1 in their last seven games.
The Oilers are trying to win their third in a row and find themselves in the thick of a crowded race for the conference’s final two playoff spots.
“We expect tonight to be sort of like a playoff game,” said Oilers centre Kyle Brodziak. “It’s something we have to take pride in and learn how to play these types of games. I think if you go into the game expecting it to be a 60-minute game, expecting to push it right to the end, that definitely benefits you.”
The Oilers’ expected lineup is:
Draisaitl — McDavid — Chiasson
Khaira — Nugent-Hopkins — Yamamato
Lucic — Cave — Kassian
Rieder — Brodziak — Puljujarvi
Nurse — Russell
Jones — Larsson
Manning — Benning
Koskinen
The Oilers beat the Flames 1-0 on Dec. 9 at Rogers Place. They lost 4-2 in Calgary on Nov. 17.
Catch the game on 630 CHED with the Faceoff Show at 6:30 p.m. The game starts at 8 p.m.
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