5 THINGS - FLAMES @ OILERS

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GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Brendan Parker
Pre-Game Interviews
GAME DAY FEATURES
'This is Why You Play' - Valimaki
Nesterov 'Hitting' His Stride
Projected Lineup
Say What - 'You Can't Play Tight'
STAT PACK
Head-to-Head Stats
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Elias Lindholm (43)
Goals - Lindholm, Johnny Gaudreau (17)
Oilers:
Points - Connor McDavid (84)
Goals - McDavid (28)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 19.9% (17th) / PK - 80.8% (11th)
Oilers:
PP - 26.3% (3rd) / PK - 79.6% (18th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 52.28% (8th)
High-Danger Chances: 52.49% (10th)
Oilers:
Shot Attempts: 48.38% (21st)
High-Danger Chances: 49.44% (16th)

1. LAST TIME OUT

For the second time in three weeks, the Battle of Alberta was played entirely on Calgary's terms.
The Flames got off to a great start, scored the game's opening goal, didn't wilt when the Oilers pushed back, and applied all sorts of pressure right to the buzzer as they skated to a 3-1 victory on Thursday at Rogers Place.
Elias Lindholm scored twice, while Dillon Dube added the insurance and Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves, as the Flames pulled (temporarily) to within four points of the final playoff spot.
The Flames are now 6-3 in their last nine games as they look to chase down the Montreal Canadiens, who picked up a 5-3 win over the Jets last night to regain their six-point cushion.
"I don't know if I can pinpoint or two things," Derek Ryan said of the reason for the team's late surge. "I think that it was a lot of different little things in the game that we focused on. Shot volume, getting more shots on net in order to score more than two goals a night, which is huge for us. Last night, in particular, Marky was exceptional, so we're probably going to need more of that down to stretch to win some big games.
"Just contributions from everywhere in the lineup. I think that everyone was contributing in their own way - not necessarily scoring goals - but doing their best to make the team better."
The Flames now have seven games left to make a charge.
This is the 10th and final regular-season meeting between these two teams and with a win, the Flames will finish the year with a .500 record against their QEII counterparts.

2. WALK WITH ELIAS

His birth certificate reads Elias Viktor Zebulon Lindholm.
But against the Oilers, he may as well be referred to as King Midas.
With another two tallies on Thursday, Lindholm now owns the highest career goals-per-game average "among regular Flames combatants" in the history of the Battle of Alberta, according to Sportsnet Stats.
The 27-year-old is clipping along with a 0.76 goals-per-game pace, well clear of second-place Marc Savard's 0.53 and fellow Flames icons Joe Nieuwendyk (0.51), Theo Fleury (0.50) and Robert Reichel (0.50).
He now has 13 goals, along with 19 points, in 17 career games against Edmonton as a member of the Flames, continuing a trend he started with the Carolina Hurricanes. In 27 career games overall, he 29 points (18G, 11A) against the Oilers dating back to the 2013-14 season.

3. BIG GUN

Thursday's victory was a monumental one for so many reasons
But get this: It was also the third time this year that the Flames have held the pair of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl pointless.
No other team has done that.
"Every line has been chipping in, playing hard, keeping them on the outside," said Mikael Backlund, who - like always - had No. 97 in his crosshairs for much of the evening. "They had a good push there in the third, the last 10 minutes. But other than that, I think we did a good job playing tight. Overall, I think we've been doing a good job playing tight and playing as a five-man unit out there."
Backlund is bang on.
McDavid had only two chances from the inside, spent most of the night defending, and was even responsible for the neutral-zone turnover that led to Dillon Dube's crucial third-period tuck.
However, the Flames expect both players to be at their best when the puck drops tonight.
They are, after all, 1-2 in league scoring for a reason.
"We were probably more fortunate last night than good at (defending)," said Head Coach Darryl Sutter. "I think as the game went on, the played a lot together and were basically out there every other shift and taking up to two-minute shifts.
"We were fortunate the clock ran out.
"Jacob made some big, big saves in the third period and, in particular, in the last six minutes. We'll try to manage them better, but it's not that easy. They had the two powerplays in the third - one to start the third and one after Dillon scored at about the 12-minute mark. Really, those guys were out there for the whole three minutes. It was big on Jacob and we got some big blocks and big clears in there."

4. PLAYERS TO WATCH

Flames - Derek Ryan
No, this isn't a recording.
The former University of Alberta Golden Bear always has a good showing in the Battle of Alberta.
Ryan is coming off a splendid, two-way effort on Thursday where his dogged work on the forecheck gave the Oilers fits all night.
On the road, the Flames don't control the matchups - and with Oilers coach Dave Tippett putting his lines in the blender for much of the evening, Ryan was primarily matched up against Ryan McLeod, James Neal and Josh Archibald, with Leon Draisaitl not far behind.
The Spokane native was flat-out dominant in every matchup he was a part of, leading the Flames with a 73.91% Corsi, while going 5-1 (83.33%) on scoring chances, and a perfect 3-0 on high-danger looks.
Best of all, in his three-plus minutes against Draisaitl, the reigning Hart Trophy-winner didn't get a sniff. In fact, he was on heels the entire time, with the Ryan unit getting four of its five chances with No. 29 on defence.
"My role has evolved here in Calgary over my three years," Ryan said. "in my opinion, as a fourth-line centre in this league, you have to be able to play defensively. If you're getting scored on a lot, that's not what you're looking for as a fourth-line centre, a fourth-line winger. I've really tried to take pride in that part of the game, I think that's super important for a team to have success is to have that on their fourth line.
"Obviously, I'd like to score more and produce more points, but it's tough, it's a tough league, and with the amount of minutes I was given in the first part of the season, it was extra hard.
"Now with Darryl, I feel like I've really come into my own. I'm confident in my game, confident in my role on the team, what's expected of me, and I think that's helped me flourish a little bit lately."

Oilers - Connor McDavid
McDavid came into Thursday's Battle of Alberta with 15 points (5G, 10A) in his last five games and topping the charts with 84 on the year.
It's a rare night when No. 97 is kept off the scoresheet, so you know he'll make to make amends with the entire country watching on Hockey Night in Canada.

5. QUOTABLE

Matthew Tkachuk:
"I think that we could be way better than what we are right now. Today was a real solid game, but even going back, we could have come out of there with more wins. But I would say that if we play like we did tonight, we're going to win on most nights. They're a team that was playing a back-to-back, a little travel in there. They're going to be better on Saturday night, we know that - especially the top guys. So, we're going to be more than ready for that."
Oilers coach Dave Tippett:
"We were sloppy (Thursday). Sloppy with the puck, turned a lot of pucks over. Smith was really good in goal, gave us a chance. We had some chances and didn't bury anything.
"You could tell fatigue was a factor in our game. We weren't as sharp as we needed to be. We'll get a rest day (Friday) and get back at it Saturday."