PRE-GAME REPORT: Oilers at Flames (Game 1)

The Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames kick off the Battle of Alberta in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Saddledome.
You can watch the game on Sportsnet and CBC or listen on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED.
Video: OILERS TODAY | Pre-Game 1 at CGY 05.18.22

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VIEWING INFORMATION
You can watch Wednesday's game on Sportsnet & CBC at 7:30 PM MT.
News and notes from Oilers practice at Rogers Place on Tuesday before the team departed to Calgary ahead of Game 1 of the second-round Battle of Alberta on Wednesday.
**>> READ MORE IN THE INSIDE THE OILERS BLOG**
CALGARY, AB - It's been 31 years in the making, but the Battle of Alberta in the Stanley Cup Playoffs has finally arrived.
Battle lines have been drawn across the province in advance of Game 1 of the second round at Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday night between the NHL's two biggest rivals in one of, if not the most, energy-fuelled rivalry in the game of hockey today.
Family members, friends, coworkers, you name it have all been pitted against one another. Who you support determines what side you stand on and who you believe will come out ahead in what will be a hard-fought and passionate series to see who earns the opportunity to contest the Western Conference Final.
"It's fun that it is the Battle of Alberta, that it is Edmonton and Calgary, and that it hasn't happened in a long time," captain Connor McDavid said. "To be a part of the first one in a while is exciting."
Calgary and Edmonton finished one-two in the Pacific Division during the regular season respectively and are each coming off Game 7 victories to set up this high-animosity second-round meeting in the playoffs after both sides seemed to be on a collision course with one another for this very matchup that's been decades in the making.
"It's a new challenge, a new task, and a completely different animal," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. "A team that's at the top of the Pacific Division for a reason. They do a lot of things really well and we're going to have our hands full."
The regular-season series was split down the middle at 2-2 and the two rivals entered the post-season as the standouts of the division with playoff ambitions of going deep for a run at the Stanley Cup after going through their own adversities at different times over the course of the campaign.
"I think you've seen both sides when we've played each other in the regular season," McDavid said. "We've seen low-scoring, tight-checking games, and obviously the last time we were in here it was a 9-5 gong show pretty much. So we want to be a checking team and that's the brand they want to play as well.
"I think you'll see low-scoring nights and maybe some nights there's a couple more goals, but I would expect it to be a tight-checking series."
Video: PRE-RAW | Nugent-Hopkins, McDavid 05.18.22
The Flames took early low projections about their place in the division as motivation to stand out in the Pacific over the whole year, while the Oilers overturned a tough stretch in January behind a new coach in Woodcroft to pace the League as one of the top teams the rest of the way.
Debates on strengths, weaknesses and who's the true underdog in the series to Flames Head Coach Darryl Sutter is just a bunch of crap ahead of a series that will be one for the ages -- if the 31-year break between their last meeting can be considered a long enough layoff.
"The white noise and the bulls\\* is just that," he said.
Coinciding with Sutter's observation, the underdog aspect hasn't crossed the mind of the Oilers captain.
"I'd never even really thought about that either to be honest, but if we're the underdog, great," he said. "We definitely believe in ourselves, we believe in our group, and it doesn't really matter what the fans or the media have to say."
Despite all the expected animosity on the ice, the Flames will try to keep the flow of the game centred at 5-on-5 after the Oilers powerplay ticked at just under 37 per cent (7-for-19) in their first-round matchup with the Los Angeles Kings.
"I think as playoffs go along, that's not just in this series. That's in every series if you watch," Sutter said. "Every series when you break it down, 5-on-5 is critical to teams winning."
The Flames bench boss emphasized that if Edmonton's provincial rivals can't elevate their game further than in their first-round, seven-game victory over the Dallas Stars to stop the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, they're more than likely to be on the losing end when the smoke clears.
"If we don't, then we won't win," he said. "I'm not saying it because we're playing Edmonton. They have two Hart Trophies and Art Ross Trophies and things like that, and we don't. So that means our players have to elevate their game. It's really not that hard to figure out when you think about it."
On Edmonton's side, speed will be the key along with the special teams and solid defence to how they'll defeat the Flames -- beginning in hostile territory in Calgary for the first two games of the series.
"We want to be fast, we want to be the first-mover, we want to put an emphasis on speed, and for us, speed trumps perfection," he said.
"We're excited for a new task, a new challenge, and it's one that we're going to attack with aggressive precision."
FROM GAME 7 TO GAME 1
From the emotions of seven-game first rounds for both sides to a clean slate -- just like that.
"It doesn't feel like there was a huge break between series, so it feels like you're just picking up where you left off in the last series," Woodcroft said"
Sutter characterized Calgary's first-round, seven-game series with Dallas as one that lacked a lot of momentum shifts with a total score across the whole series of 15-14 in favour of the Flames. The last goal was the Game 7 overtime winner from Johnny Gaudreau, and the flow of the game came down to who had the goal advantage in the moment according to the Flames coach.
For Edmonton, however, it was a different story.
The Oilers felt the repeated waves of momentum crash into them, but also saw them push their ship ahead over the course of their series with the Los Angeles Kings -- including facing a 3-2 disadvantage and needing to go into LA in need of a victory before winning the series on home ice in Game 7 at Rogers Place.
"You could definitely have ridden the wave of the last series," McDavid said. "There were a lot of ups and downs and four lead changes throughout the series, so definitely ups and downs throughout."
Edmonton leaned on its lessons learned from adversity early in the regular season to show up in that moment before Game 6 against LA with the right game plan and mindset to overturn the Kings in seven games.
Video: PRE-RAW | Jay Woodcroft 05.18.22
"I think it's something that we've known throughout the years is our resilience and never-giving-up attitude," center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "Obviously down 3-2 on the road is a tough situation to be in, and the way that we played that game and then brought that same energy back to Edmonton I thought was really good for our squad.
"We went through some adversity like every other team this year and we've battled through, so it's something that we've known throughout the year. But when you bear down and get it done at the important times, it says a lot about your group."
Carrying that desire and dedication they showed over the course of the final two games in the first round, along with balancing playing steady hockey with the emotions out of the rivalry, will be paramount to the Oilers getting the upper hand.
"It doesn't matter who the opponent is," Nugent-Hopkins said. "Obviously we need to have the same mentality of going out tonight and winning a hockey game, but at the same time, I know fans around Alberta have been waiting a long time for this.
"For myself, you figure at some point you're going to face them in the playoffs, so I'm definitely excited. But at the same time, it's another round and we need to come out on top and it starts tonight."
UNSUNG AND STEADY
Defenceman Cody Ceci has been a revelation for Edmonton during his first year in Orange & Blue colours and has developed 'Unsung Hero' level status.
Ceci has stepped into a big role for Edmonton this season, developing a strong partnership with Darnell Nurse and even stepping up to score one of the biggest goals for both himself and the Oilers when he notched the eventual game-winner against Los Angeles in Game 7.
"Very important. A very important piece," McDavid said. "He plays hard minutes, a big man, defends really well, and pitches in offensively every now and then.
The defender wasn't one that Coach Woodcroft knew a lot about when he arrived in Edmonton to take over the reins as head coach back in February, but the defender immediately established himself as someone he could rely on.
Video: LAK@EDM, Gm7: McDavid, Ceci connect for opener in 2nd
"I thought he was someone who when I came up, he scored in the first period that I was the coach behind the bench for," Woodcroft said. "He's scored timely goals, he's found a really good role with Darnell Nurse in playing against top competition, he's a quiet leader, and he's been a really good hockey player for us."
Calgary has their own version of Ceci in their own ranks in Chris Tanev, who carries similar importance to the Flames in taking on big minutes against tough opposition.
"He's great," Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau said. "He's so good defensively down low, he blocks shots, he's such a good leader on our team and everyone respects him so much. When he's playing for us, he's such a good competitor for us and one of our top D for a reason."
To McDavid, these types of players in your lineup aren't only necessary, but vital to long-term success.
"I think those guys definitely go unlooked," he said. "You look at a guy like Chris Tanev on their team, who probably doesn't get a ton of media attention but makes it hard to play for the other team. Those guys are so valuable, so he's our guy and plays hard every night."
LINEUP NOTES
The tip-toeing by head coaches around injury and lineup decisions in the post-season continued on Wednesday morning.
When Sutter was asked about the availability of Tanev for the Flames tonight after leaving Game 6 of their series against Dallas due to injury, the Calgary coach only said the defender is "very good" before refusing to reveal any more information on his readiness for Game 1.
Woodcroft continued the trend for Edmonton when asked about the specific availability of Oilers players who didn't take the morning skate like Leon Draisaitl and Evander Kane.
The Oilers coach later spoke about the importance of Nugent-Hopkins and his line that includes Derek Ryan and Josh Archibald when it comes to shutting down offensive zone starts for the Flames in a series that's headlined by four of the top-eight scorers from the regular season.
"I think those three players play the game the right way," Woodcroft said. "They're willing to sacrifice in order to help the team win. When they started in the d-zone there, those are hard miles to put on a line and they handled it great. I think for us as we move forward here, all three of those players that we mentioned will be a big factor in this series."
Warren Foegele was a victim of Woodcroft's swap to 11 forwards and seven defencemen in Games 6 & 7 despite the coach's praise of the Oilers forward after this morning's pre-game skate and believes he'll make the most of his chance to have an impact on the lineup when the opportunity arises.
"I think Warren played the first five games of that series. We found ourselves down three games to two, and we made necessary adjustments that helped us win the series," Woodcroft said.
"Warren was someone that got taken out of the lineup, but I don't think he did anything that was the culprit of why he got taken out. We went from 12 forwards down to 11 forwards, and he was the one that got taken out of the lineup… great teammate though. Great teammate. Someone who works very hard in practice and should he be asked to go in tonight's game, he'll be ready."
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com
OILERS at FLAMES
STREAM: 7:30 p.m. MT; televised on Sportsnet & CBC
Oilers Team Scope
The dreams of so many sports fans in Alberta will finally become a reality when the Edmonton Oilers take on their provincial rivals the Calgary Flames in the post-season for the first time in 31 years.
To get here, Edmonton was taken to the limit in their best-of-seven series against the Los Angeles Kings, winning the decisive Game 7 last Saturday by a 2-0 score. The Oilers have been led by their core group, with Connor McDavid's 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) leading the way. The captain's prolific first round is the best effort in a single series for an Oilers player not named Wayne Gretzky or Jarri Kurri.
When it came to scoring goals, Evander Kane paced the Blue & Orange with seven goals in the opening seven games, including a Game 3 hat trick.
Mike Smith carried on his dynamite performances from the month of April into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 40-year-old recorded two shutouts and posted a .938 save percentage while backstopping the Oilers to a first-round series win over Los Angeles.
The first-round series between the Albertan teams will feature three of the NHL's top four scorers from the regular season, and four of the top eight overall.
Flames Team Scope
It came down to the wire, but the Flames were able to advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since they eliminated the Vancouver Canucks in six games during the 2014-15 season.
Flames star Johnny Gaudreau scored the game-winning goal in overtime, roofing a sharp angle shot on Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger in Game 7 to allow Calgary to advance to the second round. Gaudreau paced the Flames with eight points (two goals, six assists) in the opening-round series against the Stars, while Vezina Trophy candidate Jacob Markstrom sported a 1.53 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage.
The Flames were without one of their top defenders in Chris Tanev, who left Game 6 against Dallas with a lower-body injury and there is no indication yet if he will be ready for the series opener against Edmonton on Wednesday.
In the regular season, the Flames offence was ignited by four 35-plus goal scorers, with Gaudreau (40), Matthew Tkachuk (42), Elias Lindholm (42) and Andrew Mangiapane (35) leading the way for the Southern Alberta team. In addition, it was announced on Tuesday that Lindholm is one of three finalists for the Frank J. Selke trophy for his defensive prowess.
The Flames first-round series against the Stars featured the lowest goals per game average of all eight post-season series, with the 4.14 total being over two goals less than the 6.29 mark set by the Edmonton/Los Angeles and Carolina/Boston series.
By The Numbers
The Oilers are 4-1 all-time in Stanley Cup Playoffs series' against the Calgary Flames... The Flames and Oilers have not met in the post-season since 1991 in a seven-game series win by the Oilers... It has been 11,355 days since the last playoff game between the Alberta teams... Edmonton is 19-11 all-time in the playoffs games against Calgary... The Oilers and Flame split the season series 2-2 this year... Leon Draisaitl led the Oilers in points against Calgary with five goals, six assists and 11 points in four games...
Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk led Calgary in points against Edmonton this season with eight each... Jacob Markstrom played all four games against Edmonton, while Mikko Koskinen and Mike Smith played two each... The Flames are averaging 41 shots per game this post-season, but only 2.00 goals per game... Edmonton is 4-0 in the playoffs when scoring the first goal... Mike Smith needs one shutout to tie Curtis Joseph for the Oilers record for the most in a single post-season run...
Injury Report
OILERS - Oscar Klefbom (shoulder) is on IR.
FLAMES - Chris Tanev (lower body) is day-to-day; Sean Monahan (hip) is on IR; Tyler Parsons (ankle) is on IR.
-- Jamie Umbach, EdmontonOilers.com