The first Battle of Alberta of the 2019-2020 NHL season didn’t provide much drama as the Calgary Flames crushed the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 Friday night at Rogers Place.
The Oilers are 4-10-1 in their last 15 games.
“We didn’t come with the mindset to play a hard game,” Oilers head Coach Dave Tippett said after the game.
“When you don’t win, the confidence is certainly questioned.”
LISTEN BELOW: Dave Tippett
The Flames jumped on a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins turnover right off the bat, allowing Calgary forward Andrew Mangiapane to score just 11 seconds into the game.
“It wasn’t the way I wanted to start,” Nugent-Hopkins said.
“It was awfully nice. It was a good play by my linemates there on the forecheck, a nice pass, and I just happened to be in front to tap it in,” Mangiapane said. “It was a good play all around.”
“I was concerned this morning and it started just like that.”
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“There’s no real excuse for that,” Edmonton captain Connor McDavid said.
“We’ve always talked about coming off breaks and how this team has struggled coming off breaks. Tonight was no different.”
LISTEN BELOW: Connor McDavid
Later in the first period, Mangiapane beat Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse for the puck and fed Matthew Tkachuk to make it 2-0.
“We all see the standings, we all see the importance of it but it’s not like we were treating this like it was a game circled on the calendar by any means,” Tkachuk said. “We wanted to come here and play like we have on the road the past little bit, and come up here with a greasy win and I thought we did a good job of that. ”
Less than three minutes later, McDavid tipped Nurse’s point shot past Flames netminder David Rittich for his 22nd goal of the season.
Calgary’s Sean Monahan scored early in the second period.
“I think the guys have really bought into the fact that first and foremost it’s all about the team,” Flames coach Geoff Ward said. “I think they’ve sacrificed a little bit of themselves to have some team success. You can see it though every guy in the room, every guy that’s in the lineup on a nightly basis.”
Elias Lindholm added a fourth Flames goal late in the frame, at which point goaltender Mikko Koskinen was replaced in the Oilers’ net by Mike Smith after allowing four goals on 24 shots.
“We’ve showed at different points in the season what we’re capable of, we’ve just got to pull it back out,” Nurse said. “It starts with our work and our habits, because that’s what’s been getting us in trouble.
“If we start there and it starts in practice and we bring it into games, we need to bring that first and we’ll worry about the rest of it later.”
Flames forward Mikael Backlund scored on a shorthanded breakaway 57 seconds into the third period to make it 5-1.
“Divisional games are big,” McDavid said. “Especially when they’re a team that’s right there with you. Tonight was the first one.
“We’ve got cracks at them throughout the year, so lots of chances to get it back.”
The Oilers (20-17-4) will host the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
“We’re still in a decent spot,” McDavid said.
“We’ve thrown our good start away but we’ve given ourselves a chance in the second half to chase down a playoff spot.”
–With files from 630 CHED’s Brenden Escott and Scott Johnston
Watch below: Some videos from Global News’ coverage of the Edmonton Oilers’ 2019-20 season.
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Ken Holland asked about Mike Babcock allegations -
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Oilers return to Edmonton after losing to Avalanche -
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Oilers prepare to take on Avalanche Thursday night -
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A look at the Edmonton Oilers season 20 games in -
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Edmonton Oilers set to start the 2019-20 season at Rogers Place -
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Oilers look to woo fans to Rogers Place for 2019-20 season
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