{"id":66768,"date":"2022-06-01T11:01:30","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T17:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=66768"},"modified":"2022-06-14T11:44:39","modified_gmt":"2022-06-14T17:44:39","slug":"flames-kicked-from-nhl-quarter-finals-oilers-move-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2022\/06\/01\/flames-kicked-from-nhl-quarter-finals-oilers-move-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Flames kicked from NHL quarter finals, Oilers move on"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Getting burned:\u00a0<\/strong>Fans look on from the Red Lot viewing party in Calgary as the Edmonton Oilers open the scoring 21 seconds into Game Four, on Tuesday, May 24, 2022. (Photo by Pat Lemoine\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Patrick Lemoine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T<\/span>he Edmonton Oilers have eliminated the Calgary Flames, winning Game Five in overtime to secure the team\u2019s first trip to the NHL Western Conference final since 2006.<\/p>\n

A<\/span>nalytically the Flames kept the series tight, often surpassing the Oilers in key statistics. Coach Daryl Sutter is known for defensively responsible 5-5 hockey, and that is exactly what the Flames produced. They led the Oilers in face-offs won, they out-shot the Oilers, they out-hit the Oilers, and the quality of their shots mostly matched that of their opponent\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The difference came down to two players, arguably the most important members of their respective teams \u2014 Connor McDavid for Edmonton, and Jacob Markstr\u00f6m for the Flames.<\/p>\n

There were signs of things to come starting in the first game of the series, overshadowed by an eclectic game the Flames won 9-6. While Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft elected to yank goaltender Mike Smith out of his net six minutes into the first period, Sutter let Markstr\u00f6m suffer six goals on 28 shots against in the eventual win.<\/p>\n

Oilers forward Zack Hyman scored twice on Markstr\u00f6m\u2019s glove side, and the team would continue to target that weakness. The Oilers scored four glove-side goals in Game One, two in Game Two, two in Game Three, and three more in Game Five. Markstr\u00f6m finished the series with a .850 save percentage, compared to Smith’s .907.<\/p>\n

Connor McDavid, captain of the Oilers and league-leader in total points, also foreshadowed his imminent dominance with a skillful deke to open the scoring for Edmonton. He finished the series with 12 points, evidently scoring at will.<\/p>\n

His series winning overtime goal was a shot from the slot through Markstr\u00f6m\u2019s glove.<\/p>\n

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Turning up the heat:\u00a0<\/strong>A sea of Calgary Flames fans prior to Game One of the Battle of Alberta heading to the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, on Wednesday, May 18, 2022. (Photo by Pat Lemoine\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Flames fans had a fairly stressful post-season, all things considered. In the first round they faced the Dallas Stars and notably goaltender Jake Oettinger. Over the course of the series, Oettinger made 268 saves \u2014 the third highest total ever during a playoff series.<\/p>\n

Some frustrated fans went as far as to conduct Amharic curses<\/a> in an attempt to get an edge over the net-minder.<\/p>\n

At the tail-end of that series, Flames officials also elected to make tickets mandatory to attend the Red Lot event, a viewing party held outside of the Scotiabank Saddledome. Tickets for Game One of the Battle of Alberta became available at 9:00 a.m., May 18.<\/p>\n

By 9:03 a.m., they were all gone.<\/p>\n

\u201c[There was] nothing. Sold out, like a big name concert,\u201d said Takumi Matsuura, a local Flames fan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was shocked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matsuura is originally from Japan, and moved to Calgary to work as an automotive mechanic. According to him, he became interested in hockey when a friend brought him to a Flames game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a soccer team in my hometown, but I love [the] Flames more than them\u201d, said Matsuura.<\/p>\n

The event would eventually be cancelled due to high winds which caused significant damage to the area, and the Flames media team announced they were cancelling the following two Red Lot events.<\/p>\n

They re-opened the event for game 4, and again, all 5000 available tickets were claimed nearly immediately.<\/p>\n

Arthur Gallant was one of the fans who managed to get a ticket.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a hockey city. It\u2019s so exciting to be able to have a team that does well [and] we can all get behind it,\u201d said Gallant.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore importantly, after the pandemic \u2014 I don\u2019t like crowds, but I love the sense of community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another heartache for Flames fans came in the third period of the final game of the series. In a situation oh-so reminiscent of the 2004 Calgary-<\/a>T<\/a>ampa Bay final<\/a>, the Flames were the victims of a controversial call when Blake Coleman had a goal disallowed due to a \u201cdistinct kicking motion\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at it from above, the angle definitely changes like quite a lot,\u201d says Kim Michelle-Brown, an Oilers fan and St-Albert resident.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether I could say it was a full kicking motion? I don’t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Stoking the flame:\u00a0<\/strong>A group of Calgary Flames fans prior to Game One of the Battle of Alberta in front of the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, on Wednesday, May 18, 2022. \u00a0(Photo by Pat Lemoine\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The call will be sure to sow discourse in many Alberta homes for decades to come.<\/p>\n

While the end result was no doubt disappointing, Flames fan can take solace in a team that far exceeded expectations from the beginning of the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep your chin up and your chests out and walk out proud,\u201d said Sutter in his post-game press conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid a hell of a lot more than anybody said they\u2019d do. I mean, the team that beat us was a favourite coming into the year and we weren\u2019t even close.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Calgary Flames have been eliminated from the 2021-2022 playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers in five games. This post-season was a stressful one for Flames fans. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":739,"featured_media":66841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S1 Battle of Alberta PL","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,21,17],"tags":[1719,112,222,426,1720,1721],"class_list":{"0":"post-66768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-professional-sports","9":"category-sports","10":"tag-battle-of-alberta","11":"tag-calgary-flames","12":"tag-edmonton-oilers","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-nhl-playoffs","15":"tag-red-lot"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/739"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66768"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66879,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66768\/revisions\/66879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}