Edmonton Oilers vs. Calgary Flames- Oilers Play Atrociously in Final B.O.A. at Rexall

There's not much I can say after a game like that. The Oilers played terribly. They deserved to lose badly, to another fairly bad team, and they got what they deserved.

The final Battle of Alberta at Rexall Place served as a microcosm for our last decade as fans of this team. It sucked! It's not as if expectations were especially high for this game. Edmonton were technically the betting favourites, as one would expect, given that it was a home game, against another team who are far outside of the playoff picture, and who weren't playing particularly well coming in.

Still, I doubt many Oilers fans thought of the team as favourites tonight. All most of us were really expecting was a reasonably close game, to take our minds off of our own mortality for two-and-a-half to three hours. Against a team like Calgary, who were just two nights removed from getting beat down by the L.A. Kings, those expectations seemed fairly reasonable.

But therein lies the strength of this team. They have an uncanny, nay, supernatural ability to lower your expectations as far as you think they can possibly go. Then, just when you think your expectations can't be any lower, they still manage to disappoint you.

Recap

The Oilers got scored on early by Mikael Backlund, shorthanded. Then they played decently for a while. Around the eight minute mark of the first, they stopped playing decently. For the last 48 minutes of the game, we wouldn't see another minute of decent play from the Oilers.

Joe Colborne scored late in the second. There was still nearly 25 minutes left at that point, but the way the Oilers were playing, it looked like a nail in the coffin.

It turns out that was the case. The Flames scored three times in the third. It was one of the most excruciating periods of hockey to watch that I can remember. Hopefully the Rexall beers were able to numb the senses of the paying fans.

Silver Lining

A lot of Edmonton area golf courses are already open. First week of April, eh? Not too shabby!

Stats Central

Andrej Sekera had the best Corsi differential of any Oiler tonight. He was +7 in that category.

Corey's Player of the Game

I'm keeping it. That game was brutal, and these things may be imaginary, but they don't grow on trees.