Outdoor triumph gives Oilers much-needed boost: ‘It was very special’

EDMONTON — In a game that least resembled a run-of-the-mill night in the National Hockey League, the Edmonton Oilers finally looked like the team they are supposed to be.

On a stage where focus was the last thing anybody wanted — where Nickelback, scads of Oilers alumni, and 55,411 fans jostled to relegate a hockey game to a mere sideshow — a struggling Oilers team finally found itself, somewhere among the hustle and bustle of the three-ring circus.

“There is lots going on, but ultimately, I think maybe that was a good thing, too,” said Connor McDavid, whose return from injury made his team feel 10 feet taller — even if he only tallied a single assist in a 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames in the Heritage Classic. “This was a nice little distraction, but when push came to shove we knew that this was a big game early in our season.

“Whether it was indoors or outdoors didn’t matter. We wanted to have this one.”

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In front of a sold-out Commonwealth Stadium, in a game meant to celebrate the Heritage Classic of 2003 that birthed the NHL’s outdoor fetish, an Oilers team that had won once in seven games this season added its second ‘W’ with a measure of authority.

The Oilers were the better team by far, outscoring the Flames 4-0 at even strength. Any time the game reached one of those moments where it could go either way it went Edmonton’s way, as the Oilers continued their recent mastery of their old rivals.

An Oilers team that has run the gamut of blowing leads, from awful third periods to bad starts to everything in between, entered the third period with a 3-2 lead and locked a hockey game down in the third.

“That was a mature third period,” said head coach Jay Woodcroft. “It looked like us tonight.”

His seat, and everyone else’s around this team, had heated up considerably during this 1-5-1 start. That the coach and his players could deliver this franchise a victory on a night when the entire hockey world was watching provides both a sigh of relief and, perhaps, a quiet chest thump.

Quiet because it’s only their second win of the season, but what do they say about winning? It beats the hell outta losing…

“We have a lot of proud people in our organization … and no one’s been happy with the way we started the season,” Woodcroft said. “I just think we got to playing a certain way. It was a big night for our city, a big night for our organization.

“I said before the game the most important thing is that we walked out of here with two points? I would add that I was very pleased that we … looked like us.”

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Twenty years ago, on Nov. 22, 2003, the temperature at puck drop was minus 18.6 Celsius. This time around it was 3.1 degrees above zero, a perfect temperature for the ODR (outdoor rink).

Years ago, any of these players would have skated under the fading sun and well into the night under the community league lights on a night as perfect as this one, on their journey up from minor hockey to where they are now. Now, it’s an anomaly. A rare opportunity to be savoured, and hopefully not soured by coming out on the wrong end, with parents, family and friends flying in to town from all over the world.

Stuart Skinner, the local kid, tended the twine dependably on a night when his team did not need the spectacular, but rather just steady goaltending. The kind that winning teams receive night after night.

“It’s very unique, because I am from Edmonton,” Skinner said. “I grew up watching all the games here, from the Eskimos to the Elks. So to be being able to actually be part of something (like this), it’s pretty remarkable, (and) very near and dear to my heart.

“After the game I was able to look up, look at the fans and really enjoy it for a minute or two. It was very special. I’m very, very grateful.”

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By the game’s midpoint, the Flames had registered three shots on goal at even strength. Evander Kane was a beast, one player who has visibly stepped up his game over the past week when the call to arms was issued by McDavid’s absence from the lineup.

Kane scored the empty-netter, had two primary assists and knocked Chris Tanev into the next Heritage Classic with a hellacious check early in the third period. He’s a gamer, and has brought his best when his team needed it the most this season.

“A quintessential Evander Kane game,” Woodcroft said. “Look at his finished checks. Look at the shots on net (game-high six). He ended up in the box, but he was a big factor in our team winning.”

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The task now is to make this game carry into home games against Dallas (Thursday) and Nashville (Saturday) this week. To look back on the Heritage Classic as a starting point, not a one-off.

That starts on Tuesday, when the Oilers return to practice after a day off on Monday.

On Sunday evening, in the Elks dressing room, nibbling on some sushi with a pair of chop sticks, the big Swede Mattias Ekholm took some time to enjoy a night that you only get to experience a time or two in your career.

“It almost feels like you’re playing for 10 points, but you’re still only playing for two,” Ekholm said. “There’s a lot of things going on, but the stakes are higher (because) you put more into it. There is more family, more everything. Everything’s jacked up.

“It’s not a playoff game, but it kind of has that vibe where it’s like, ‘OK, if we can just get this one win.’ It’s gonna go a long way in the room.”

A long ways, indeed. And for this team, a long time coming.

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