Battle of Alberta playoff edition: Oilers and Flames meet in NHL post-season for 1st time since 1991
Posted May 15, 2022 10:58 pm.
Last Updated May 15, 2022 11:12 pm.
It’s the matchup that was eagerly anticipated by hockey fans in Alberta and beyond, by analysts and even the Great One before this year’s NHL playoffs even got underway.
And now it’s here.
For the first time since 1991, the Edmonton Oilers will face the Calgary Flames in a post-season edition of the “Battle of Alberta.”
The fierce competitors take their heated rivalry – renewed in years past with enthralling head-to-head matchups in the regular season – to the NHL playoffs primetime.
The second-round meeting was made possible after the Flames eliminated the Dallas Stars with a 3-2 overtime victory in Game 7 Sunday night.
The Oilers clinched their spot in the second round with their own Game 7 victory Saturday night – 2-0 over the L.A. Kings at Rogers Place.
As the No. 1 seed in the Pacific, the Flames get home ice advantage for the series set to begin at the Saddledome on Wednesday. It shifts to Rogers Place for Games 3 and 4.
Oilers superstars like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl weren’t even born when Edmonton last played Calgary in the playoffs.
The same is true for Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm, Sean Monahan and many others.
Battle of Alberta game one goes Wednesday.#yeg #Yyc pic.twitter.com/Yi3WbbXk9O
— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) May 16, 2022
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Diehard hockey fans outside those two hockey markets will hope the “Battle of Alberta” 31 years in the making will go the distance – simply for the sheer enjoyment of watching provincial rivals battle it out on the ice as many times as possible.
Both teams were extremely well matched this year. They met four times during the regular season, with each team winning twice. Edmonton scored 16 goals across those four games while Calgary scored 17.
But playoff history is certainly on Edmonton’s side.
There have been five previous “Battle of Alberta” matchups in the NHL playoffs in the 1980s and early ‘90s. The Oilers won four of those.
Calgary’s only victory came in 1986 when rookie defenceman Steve Smith accidentally scored in his own net in a Game 7.
- 1983 division finals: Oilers won 4–1
- 1984 division finals: Oilers won 4–3
- 1986 division finals: Flames won 4–3
- 1988 division finals: Oilers won 4–0
- 1991 division finals: Oilers won 4–3
On Calgary’s side this year is a vote of confidence from the Great One himself.
Prior to the start of the playoffs, Wayne Gretzky, the all-time Oilers great, predicted the Flames would beat the Oilers if the teams met in the second round.
The Edmonton Oilers Instagram account, heartbroken at the prophecy, commented on the social media post saying “Ouch, Wayne.”
Gretzky predicted the Flames would go on to lose to the St. Louis Blues in the next round.
