Nugent-Hopkins, Oilers missing rivalry with Flames during pause

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins couldn't help but think about what would have been this week had the NHL season not have been paused due to concerns over the coronavirus.

The Edmonton Oilers were scheduled to close out the regular season with a game at the Calgary Flames on Saturday, their fifth Battle of Alberta.
"It's hard not to think about that when you're going over those days we should have been playing," the center said from Edmonton on Thursday. "Everybody's kind of just taking it one day at a time now, waiting for updates. It's definitely strange, knowing we would have been playing our last regular-season game on Saturday."
When the season paused on March 12, Edmonton (37-25-9) was second in the Pacific Division, three points behind the first-place Vegas Golden Knights. Calgary (36-27-7) was third, four points behind the Oilers. If positions remain the same after a possible resumption of play, they'd play in the Western Conference First Round.

If the season resumes, forward Alex Chiasson feels the Oilers would be in a great spot since he said they have made so much progress after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the past two seasons.
"I felt like in the last month our team was really coming along," said Chiasson, who has 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) in 65 games this season. "For me, the biggest thing we learned as a team is that we were able to ... play in tight matches. We were up one, or down a goal or two, as a team we were capable of playing in those types of games. That's a good indication of a team going in the right direction. We've made some great steps this year. I thought our team was prepared to go into playoffs and be a good playoff team."
That progress is something Chiasson said he believed he would see when he re-signed with Edmonton on July 1, 2019, after having 38 points (22 goals, 16 assists) in 72 games last season, career highs for goals and points.
"We've added a few guys who are really good on the ice and they've also provided a different type of personality in the locker room," said Chiasson who was a member of the Stanley Cup-winning Washington Capitals in 2017-18. "There's a lot of that stuff that seems really unnoticed on the ice but really what goes on off the ice is a big factor on championship teams.
"That's one of the reasons I wanted to come back here last year because there's a lot of things I saw in this group that I saw when I played in Washington. Again, I think we've earned that as a team. We've showed that. We're hopeful the season comes back, that we can go play and have fun."

Edmonton's leaders have led by example. Forward Leon Draisaitl leads the NHL in scoring with 110 points (43 goals, 67 assists) in 71 games, and captain Connor McDavid, who is second with 97 points (34 goals, 63 assists) in 64 games.
But new faces have had impact, including forward Kailer Yamamoto, who has 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in 27 games since being recalled from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League on Dec. 28, rookie defenseman Ethan Bear, who has played top-four minutes (21:58 per game this season) and has 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) in 71 games and veteran forward James Neal, who has 31 points (19 goals, 12 assists) in 55 games.
"Having older guys coming in who can speak up in the room goes a long way," said Nugent-Hopkins, who has 61 points (22 goals, 39 assists) in 65 games in his ninth season in Edmonton. "And having fresh faces, guys who have played on winning teams before changes the mentality too. For guys who've been here as long as I have, it's nice to have some positive energy coming in after some off years."
It's all part of the process of getting to the point where the Battle of Alberta and games late in a season matter, Chiasson said.
"I think a lot of the championship teams, in my opinion, are not just built overnight," he said. "It takes time. It also takes experience and sometimes you've got to face the lows or the highs and you've got to grow as a team."