There is nothing like a good ol’ fashioned provincial rivalry to gauge early season form.
Of course, there was nothing good about the initial Battle of Alberta of this young NHL season, as far as the Edmonton Oilers were concerned.
Having fallen 4-1 to the Calgary Flames back on Oct. 13 to fall to 0-3 for the first time since 2015 was only made worse by the fact their southern counterparts used the win to rocket to 3-0 out of the gates.
Things have since evened out, of course, with both teams hovering right around the .500 mark and just two points separating them in fourth and fifth place in the Pacific Division standings heading into Sunday’s rematch at Scotiabank Saddledome.
“I think we’ve grown for sure and have developed good habits since the last game,” Oilers forward Vasily Podkolzin said following the morning skate. “And we just kept building and trying to play hard.
“That’s what I think. That’s why we’ve grown from our last game.”
Back then, Podkolzin was playing in the bottom six and still searching for his first point since joining the Oilers via a trade with the Vancouver Canucks for a fourth-round draft pick on Aug. 18.
He has since risen to become a staple on the Oilers second line next to Leon Draisailt and Viktor Arvidsson. At least, it was the second line, before captain Connor McDavid went down with an ankle injury.
Now it’s become the defacto first line for at least the next couple weeks.
“It’s a great opportunity for me, playing with a player like that,” Podkolzin said. “I just try to learn something every day and try to enjoy it.”
Not that having the lineups shuffled really changes anything when it comes to what Podkolzin tries to focus on out on the ice.
“Just being speedy and moving my legs always,” he said. “I try to make the right decisions, try to make fast decisions and keep playing hard.
“I think that’s the biggest point for the whole team, we’ve got to keep playing hard.”
Let’s get physical
While Podkolzin managed to pick up a couple of assists between the Calgary games, he made perhaps his biggest impression on his new teammates by taking his gloves off.
He didn’t shy away from taking on Jeremy Lauzon in a 5-1 win over the Nashville Predators last week, bloodying the bigger opponent with a knockdown punch that sent him to the dressing room.
At the same time, Podkolzin is making a point of getting used to the new rivalry he inherited while coming to Alberta.
“It’s a good feeling, I like a game like that,” he said of facing the Flames. “I think we’ve just got to think about our team and how we are going to play against (any opponent), no matter what and no matter who.
“Keep building, keep pushing hard and just try to get more good habits moving into the second month of the season.”
And when it comes to Calgary, the Oilers prefer to continue looking ahead in the calendar, instead of what happened the first time around.
“I think that game was an eye-opener for us,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We got off to a really good start, and then as the game went on they really took it to us. And they were definitely the better team.
“There was obviously some frustration, a three-game losing streak and then we kind of chased things, we were able to get a little more success. But to say that we’ve found success and we’ve found our game right now I think is an overstatement. I think we’re still finding it, I think there’s a lot to do and we know tonight will be a big test.”
Focus on special teams
As big as the Battle of Alberta can be for hockey fans in the province, it will take more than a couple games against the Flames for these Oilers to figure out just who they are this year, coming off the disappointment of losing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
“You look at so many parts of our game, 5-on-5, it’s getting closer. But you look, especially on our special teams, it’s not nearly what we saw last year when it just really excelled in the post-season. Power play and penalty kill. And special teams are a big part of the game.”
Just not part of the Oilers’ game right now, as it turns out, with their penalty kill sitting dead last at 62.5 per cent coming into Sunday’s game, and the power play 28th at 13.3 per cent — about as steep a drop as it could get from leaving off in the stratosphere during last year’s playoffs.
“So often it’s decided by one goal and it’s usually a power-play goal,” Knoblauch said. “And right now, we need to capitalize on those opportunities.”
Especially when they’re playing without their captain.
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge