PREVIEW: Oilers at Flames 

The Edmonton Oilers will visit Scotiabank Saddledome and attempt to set the NHL record for the longest win streak by a Canadian team against the Calgary Flames in the Battle of Alberta on Saturday.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet & Hockey Night in Canada at 8:00 p.m. MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.

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PREVIEW: Oilers at Flames

CALGARY, AB – As if we needed any more reasons to be excited about the Battle of Alberta.

“It's always a special night playing against the Flames,” said Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl before the team flight to Calgary on Friday afternoon.

“Of course, it's always a little bit more amped up than any other game, but we have the chance to make history and we’re aware of it.”

The Edmonton Oilers will face their provincial rivals the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday night as they try to make it 13 consecutive victories to pass the 1967-68 Montreal Canadiens for the longest win streak by a Canadian team in NHL history.

In addition to history, there will be two critical points in the playoff race up for grabs, with Edmonton currently four points up on the Flames for third place in the Pacific Division with an extra four games in hand.

“Obviously it's cool to break records, but two points is two points,” said defenceman Vincent Desharnais. “We just want to go out there, get two points and get out of there. We know it's going to be a big rivalry, we're very excited and ready to battle, but at the end of the day we're going to Calgary for two points.”

The Flames are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games and three points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second Wild Card spot after falling 4-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday to see their four-game win streak end. Yegor Sharangovich has been their hottest hand offensively with seven goals in his last five games, while Jonathan Huberdeau is heating up with eight points (1G, 7A) in his last six.

Saturday will be the second of four matchups between the two rivals this season after they last met in the Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium on Oct. 28, where the Oilers earned a 5-2 victory to help tide off some early-season struggles that soon led to Kris Knoblauch’s appointment behind the bench on Nov. 12.

Knoblauch will be coaching his first Battle of Alberta, but knows all too well from his playing days with the University of Alberta Golden Bears what this rivalry can bring out of both sides – especially when there's more on the line than bragging rights.

"This will be new to me, but living in Alberta and knowing the competition, the rivalry between these two teams, they'll be motivated," he said. "They're always motivated to beat the Edmonton Oilers, and we're always motivated to beat the Calgary Flames. But now, with our streak and them chasing us in the playoffs, there'll probably be even more animosity and more of a rivalry and it'll be great."

Since his appointment, the Oilers have assembled a 22-6-0 record and are currently locked into their franchise-record win streak, climbing into third place in the Pacific Division after Thursday night’s 4-2 comeback win over the Seattle Kraken – the seventh of their current 12-game winning run.

Edmonton has given up the first goal in five straight games and seven times over their streak, but they've scored timely goals in front of some stellar goaltending from Stuart Skinner and a resilient team defence that's allowed two goals or fewer in a franchise-record 10 straight contests.

"I think we have the puck a lot. We have the puck all night it feels like right now," Draisaitl said. "So when you have the puck, chances of getting scored on are significantly lower. So when we don't have the puck, we're defending really well. Stu's been lights out, Picks has been lights out for us as well, so if you combine those things, that's a pretty good recipe to keep the goals against down."

Though a terrific formula for fighting back for wins, Knoblauch still wants to see his team have better starts and doesn't want them to get complacent when it comes to correcting some of the mistakes they've been making.

"You can only get away with that so many times," the coach added. "I think we're at the point where I'm not sure we can get away with that anymore. The starts are very important, and you look at the stats on if you score first and the chances of winning obviously increase. That's changed a little bit over the years. Probably ten years ago if you score first, you're more likely to win 75 percent of the time. Now it's maybe 60 percent of the time or I'm not sure what the numbers are, but that first goal is important and it's really important we start getting that first goal."

But if the trend of giving up the first goal continues, the Oilers are committed to taking the patient approach.

"It's always good to get on the front foot and find a way to lead the game early, but with that said, we've been talking about a patient game with our team and not getting down and just relying on our structure," defenceman Darnell Nurse said. "And at the end of the day, we'll get the right result and that's kind of been the trend as of late. Even in those games where we haven't gotten ahead, it's not like we've changed the way we've played. We've kind of dictated the rest of the game through just being patient.

"We definitely want to come out tomorrow night and maybe start a little different, but in the same token continue with that full 60-minute effort."