Too much?
Maybe.
Sure, to be fair, it was only pre-season. But in the long-running series that is the Battle of Alberta, it was still downright cinematic and fun for the fans in the stands.
Former Oilers Tobias Rieder and Milan Lucic scored second-period goals less than three-minutes apart in the second period and Rieder added another timely tally - the game-winner in the third - to propel the homeside to a 3-2 victory in their final pre-season tilt.
Rieder, of course, spent last season with the Oilers, snakebitten in the Alberta Capital going 67 games without a goal.
The 26-year-old came to Calgary on a PTO and has impressed the coaching staff, regularly earning praise from head coach Bill Peters for his play, including his ability to generate offensive opportunities this pre-season.
However, his goal-scoring drought was brought up often by the media, hanging over his head like a black cloud that wouldn't go away.
That was, until the 6:26 mark of the second stanza when linemates Mark Jankowski and Austin Czarnik made a quick 1-2-3 passing play that finished with Rieder, who snapped a wrist shot under the glove hand, far-side on Oilers netminder Mikko Koskinen.
Tweet from @NHLFlames: Snipe City. pic.twitter.com/PlROtbOwiz
Then came Lucic's turn to add to the picture-perfect narrative.
Coming to Calgary this summer in a trade that sent James Neal up to Edmonton (Neal didn't make the trip last night), Lucic was also lauded by the coaching staff for creating tons of chances in the pre-season, especially on the powerplay.
But he was still looking for his first goal in Flames' silks.
He got it at the 9:12 mark while Calgary was a man-up. Koskinen made the stop on a Rasmus Andersson point shot but the rebound fell to the feet of Lucic who was standing just outside the blue paint, pulling it on his backhand to his forehand and slipping it behind the Oilers 'tender to make it 2-0 and leading to the first 'Loooooooooooooooooooooch' chant to ring through the 'Dome.
Tweet from @NHLFlames: Right place, right time. The #Flames' second of the night comes courtesy of another former Oiler. #Looooooch pic.twitter.com/O7NV2ytDWh
However, Gaetan Haas and Zack Kassian tried to run the yarn, scoring 31 seconds apart in the third period to knot things up.
Well, Rieder wasn't having it.
He tipped home a TJ Brodie point shot with 5:39 left to play to finish off the storybook night.
Tweet from @NHLFlames: Rieder makes 'em pay. His second of the night holds up as the game-winner! What a story. pic.twitter.com/t8JeUoJR6t
The game, of course, featured a lot of players who had switched jerseys. Mike Smith, who spent two seasons with the Flames and signed in the off-season up the QEII, sat on the Oilers bench backing up Koskinen.
Cam Talbot, who spent four seasons with the Oilers before being dealt partway through last season to the Flyers, backed up Flames starter David Rittich.
Speaking of Rittich, he wasn't tested much in the first period, thanks in large part to great defensive plays and the Oilers inability to put any passes on the tape when players did manage to find a seam.
Travis Hamonic best displayed the Flames defensive savy when he broke up a two-on-one play, deflecting a pass from Leon Draisaitl that was meant for a wide-open Joakim Nygard.
The Flames led 9-3 in shots after 20 minutes of play.
Rittich made his biggest stop of the game to that point early in the second, kicking out his pad to deny what looked like a tap-in by Draisaitl after a great pass from Tomas Jurco.
Tweet from @NHLFlames: Denied. ��� pic.twitter.com/esLk41x69P
Sam Bennett nearly opened the scoring not long after, toe dragging around Ethan Bear at full steam to get a nice wrist shot off that Koskinen was able to turn aside.
