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It’s officially a losing streak.
The Edmonton Oilers dropped their third game in a row on Saturday as the Calgary Flames rolled into town and picked up a commanding 6-3 win.
The Flames opened the scoring a couple of minutes into the first period and added two more goals later in the frame to take a 3-0 lead. Zach Hyman scored a pair of goals to bring the score to 3-2 in the second period but Edmonton couldn’t complete the comeback. Calgary added two more goals in the second to pad their lead and Blake Coleman put the game out of reach with an empty-net goal in the third.
After exchanging wins and losses for the first few games out of the All-Star break, the Oilers have fallen into their worst lull in months and look more like the team that stumbled out of the gates in October than the one that won sixteen consecutive games in December and January. All of a sudden, they look like a team in need of a spark.
Meanwhile, the Flames are now on a three-game winning streak and are only three points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference at the time of writing. Are they playing themselves out of being sellers ahead of the trade deadline or will the team stay the course and continue to sell?
Things worth mentioning…
Stuart Skinner had another rough game between the pipes for the Oilers, as he allowed 25 goals on 30 shots for an .833 save percentage. He came into the game with an .871 save percentage over six games since the All-Star break and Saturday’s loss to Calgary was his fifth in a row with a save percentage below .900. It’s difficult to pin this loss on the goalie because the team didn’t always give much of an effort in front of Skinner but those are some worrying trends.
Zach Hyman scored two of the team’s three goals, his 36th and 37th on the season. Edmonton’s third goal came from Mattias Janmark in the third period. The goal was his fourth of the season and third in his last four games. Something’s gotten into Janmark recently because he’s not only popping off offensively all of a sudden, but he’s also dropping the gloves.
Janmark I was unfamiliar with your game I apologize. pic.twitter.com/paThYCs6Ih
— Dyl (@dhockey13) February 25, 2024
Up next… The Oilers will host the Los Angeles Kings on Monday, an important game as the two teams are separated by only two points in the standings. The Oilers are in third place in the Pacific Division with 68 points and the Kings trail them with 66 points. Both teams have played 55 games thus far.
The fourth and final Battle of Alberta will come in Calgary on April 6. The Oilers have won two meetings and the Flames have won one now, so that game will decide whether Edmonton wins the season series or Calgary manages a tie.
More must-reads:
- Maple Leafs fire HC Sheldon Keefe after another early playoff exit
- Panthers dominate Bruins to even series
- The 'Most three-pointers made in one postseason' quiz
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