History repeating as Oilers and Flames hurtle toward Game 4

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The late great Yogi Berra never played professional hockey, but if the former Yankees catcher and devoted New Jersey Devils fan took one look at this year’s Battle of Alberta, he would surely invoke arguably his most famous phrase: It’s like déjà vu all over again.

Not just in the sense that the two provincial rivals are combining to play out a tightly fought and closely contested series, just as they did the previous time they met in the playoffs 31 years ago. But also in the sense that both teams find themselves in the identical positions in which they found themselves after three games of the first round.

The Edmonton Oilers, as they were against the Los Angeles Kings two weeks ago, are up two games to one, having dropped the opener before winning two in a row. Meanwhile, following the blueprint that they established against the Dallas Stars, the Calgary Flames took Game 1 before falling behind in the series after two consecutive losses.

“I feel like we should actually be grateful for the last round and kind of the ups and downs of it,” Oilers defenceman Tyson Barrie told reporters Monday. “It can take teams, you know, a full year to learn a lesson like we did last round and we just know it’s far from over.

“We have a great opportunity in front of us here to take a big step and a big lead and I think the last time we had that opportunity I would say we weren’t really even close to grabbing it.”

Given the play of the Oilers’ top line through the first three games, it is fair to say that Edmonton is likely a lot closer to grabbing control of the current best-of-seven series when it resumes with Tuesday’s Game 4 at Rogers Place. With Leon Draisaitl having been moved from centring the second line to playing left wing on a revamped top unit with Connor McDavid and Evander Kane, the Oilers have been flying at a historic level offensively.

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It’s a trio that head coach Jay Woodcroft put together toward the end of the last series, with Draisaitl hampered by an undisclosed injury to his ankle and the former Hart Trophy winner lacking his usual mobility.

After a 0-0 first period in Sunday’s Game 3, the trio combined for 10 points in the second to give Edmonton a stranglehold on the game and the edge in the series. Kane registered his second hat trick of the playoffs, while Draisaitl became the first player in NHL history to dish out four assists in one period of a playoff game.

“I think last night, the way we came out, the way we followed it up in the second period, that was probably as complete a game as we’ve played,” Draisaitl said Monday. “It was a pretty good pace. You could tell that we were we were flying out there. It was hard work, but I think we were all dialled in and all on the same page.”

Of course, arguably no one is more dialled in than the Oilers captain right now. McDavid had three assists Sunday to raise his point total to 23, an otherworldly scoring rate that only two other players have bettered through the first 10 games of a playoff campaign: Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

It’s a level of excellence that few in the sport have reached, but according to Woodcroft, it’s having a ripple effect through the entire Oilers club.

“What he’s doing is special,” the head coach said. “And I said this last series – he’s inspiring every person in our organization to be the best that they can be, whether it’s Richard in the mailroom or Shauna in HR. He’s somebody, with what he’s bringing to the table each and every day, [who] is pushing this entire organization and our city forward.”

It hasn’t gone unnoticed in the opposition locker room. While the Oilers top line has ridden roughshod over the Flames for the past five periods, Calgary’s top line of Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk and Elias Lindholm – all 40-goal scorers in the regular season – has struggled of late.

Since Gaudreau and Lindholm set up Tyler Toffoli for a power-play goal two minutes into the second period of Game 2, the Flames’ top players have gone quiet, with only a late consolation from Oliver Kylington preventing Calgary from being shut out in Game 3.

As someone who has played with both McDavid and Draisaitl, Flames forward Milan Lucic can only look on admiringly, particularly given the struggles other teams have had this time of year in putting their best players together in the hopes of generating something special.

“Not only are they two of the top five, top three, probably top two players in the league, you’ve seen teams try to put their two best players together and they don’t have chemistry,” Lucic said. “But I know from playing with them, and now playing against them, they have great chemistry. When they are on the ice together, they know where each other is at all times.”

Despite being ejected from Game 3 for a controversial hit on Oilers goaltender Mike Smith – who had to leave the game to comply with the NHL’s concussion protocol – Lucic will suffer no further discipline and will be free to play in Game 4. But the Flames winger says his team needs to get back to playing its own brand of hockey, just as it did in Game 4 of the first round against Dallas, a game it won 4-1 on the way to winning the series.

“Our focus has been a little bit too much on the Oilers and we kind of started playing their game a little bit more than we wanted. You’ve got to give them credit as well, they’ve played really well these first three games,” he said.

“So all our energy and focus has to go into finding our game and when we do that, we give ourselves a really good chance to win.”