EDMONTON -- Vincent Desharnais was happy to be sporting 2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic attire at practice Friday as the Edmonton Oilers prepared to face the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, CITY, TVAS2).
The Oilers defenseman’s only NHL goal came in that game at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, a 5-2 win Oct. 29, and he hopes to rekindle the magic when his team wears the uniforms again in the second Battle of Alberta of the season.
“I actually had a pretty nice goal (in practice) today,” Desharnais said. “So, I don’t want to jinx it, but it was a good practice.”
There is plenty on the line as Edmonton and Calgary are back in the thick of the Stanley Cup Playoff race after each had a slow start to the season.
Edmonton is looking to extend its franchise-best 12-game winning streak, which would set the record for a Canadian team. The Montreal Canadiens also won 12 straight during the 1967-68 season. The Pittsburgh Penguins hold the NHL record with 17 consecutive wins in 1992-93.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t really care about the streak, I just want to win,” Desharnais said. “Obviously it’s great, it’s cool to break records, but two points is two points. We just want to go down there, get the two points and get out of there. We know it’s going to be a big rivalry, we’re very excited for it, we’re ready to battle, but at the end of the day, we’re going to Calgary for two points.”
When the teams met at the Heritage Classic, both were struggling. The Oilers were 1-5-1 going into the game, and it was uncertain whether center Connor McDavid would play after he’d sat out the previous two games with an upper-body injury.
They Flames were 2-5-1 and on a four-game losing streak, which was extended to six when they followed the Heritage Classic with a 4-3 loss to the Dallas Stars at home three days later.
McDavid came back to play in the outdoor game and had an assist in the win. But Edmonton lost its next four games, eventually leading to a coaching change with Kris Knoblauch replacing Jay Woodcroft on Nov. 12. The Oilers are 22-6-0 since the change and on a 20-3-0 run since Nov. 24.
“This will be new to me,” Knoblauch said Friday, “but living in Alberta and knowing the competition and the rivalry between these two teams, they’re always motivated to beat the Edmonton Oilers and we’ll be motivated to beat the Calgary Flames. Now with our streak and them chasing us in the playoff (race), there will probably be more animosity and more of a rivalry, and it’ll be great. I think there are certain times in the season that you want those games. They’re exciting for the players and they’re exciting for the fans and, hopefully, it’s a good hockey game.”
Edmonton (25-15-1) is third in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the Los Angeles Kings. It has been a remarkable turnaround for the Oilers, who were tied with the San Jose Sharks for last in the NHL standings Nov. 9 following a 3-2 road loss to them.
“It’s always a special night playing against the Flames,” Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl said. “It’s always more amped up than any other game, probably. We have the chance to make history and we are aware of it. At the same time, we’re just looking to continue to play our game and continue our trend and continue to play the way we’ve been playing.”
Calgary (21-19-5) is fifth in the Pacific, three points behind Los Angeles for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. The Flames had a four-game winning streak end with a 4-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
Calgary forward Connor Zary appeared to have tied the game at 8:39 of the third period, but the goal was overturned after Toronto successfully challenged for a hand pass.
“We’re playing a similar team on Saturday and we have to learn from tonight,” Flames captain Mikael Backlund said after the loss Thursday. “Know that the second period and the way we played, we turned too many pucks over and it kind of cost us and it’s going to be a similar thing on Saturday. There is a highly skilled team coming in on Saturday too, so we have to learn from tonight and bounce back on Saturday.”
The Flames are on a good run of their own, going 10-5-0 in their past 15 games. Calgary and Edmonton were tied with 27 points each on Dec. 14. Now the Flames trail the Oilers, who have four games in hand, by four points and are trying to keep them from running away in the standings.
“Any game against the Oilers is an exciting one,” Calgary forward Blake Coleman said Thursday. “I expect the crowd to be similar to what it was [Thursday]. Saturday night, there’s no place you’d rather be.”
