Always nice to beat the Oilers, especially by 3 or more goals. It's a bit of a downer that the "two-goal scorer per game" thing came to an end, not that it was in any way important (who keeps track of these ultra-obscure records anyways?). The best part, aside from the victory, may have been Dion Phaneuf's 3 point outing, which no doubt induced some loud expletives and excessive rending of garments in Edmonton on Saturday night.
Despite a few miscues that led to a couple Oiler opportunities (2 break-aways to be exact), the defense looked fairly tight. Unfortunately, it's hard to know if that's due to improved play from the Flames or an artifact of playing a toothless opponent. For example, did Calgary kill off all 6 PP against because the PK was decent? Or because the Oilers are the worst team in the league on the PP? Probbaly a helping of both, though until I see otherwise Im going to assume the latter factor was the more influential.
Iginla has certainly turned things around since his awful night in Detroit. He's scored 12 points in his last 5 games and is amongst the league leaders in total points (13) and points per game (1.62). He burned the Oil for 3 on Saturday and probably could have had a few more if Roloson hadn't been so solid. It's definitely nice to Jarome setting the pace and dragging some of his teammates (Langkow, Huselius, Tanguay, Conroy) with him.
We're only 8 games in, but Dion Phaneuf continues to look like a different player thus far. "Different" meaning, "significantly improved". His offensive prowess was never in doubt, but this season Phaneuf has begun to control play at both ends of the ice. There's less of an emphasis on "big hits" and "big shots" in his game this year. Both of his goals have come from intelligent roaming in the offensive zone, rather than simply blasting away from the point. His speed and strength on the puck are unmatched by anyone else on the back-end. He seems to be consistently making better decisions, particularly in his own zone.
I think these are the first real glimmers that validate the "future Norris trophy candidate" hype that's surrounded Dion since he entered the league. I've always been impressed with Phaneuf's play, relative to his age and experience, but this is the first time I can honestly say hes looked like a bona fide elite defenseman for more than a game or two. Here's hoping he keeps it up.
Speaking of the back-end, Rhett Warrener has looked better ever since David Hale was inserted in the line-up. Hmmm...I wonder who the weak link is here? At this juncture, I'm willing to give good odds that Eriksson ends the year with the exact same stat line that saw Andrea Susan dumped in the off-season...
On the Oilers side of the ledger, I can't say I noticed many of their guys last game. Penner was invisible when he wasn't taking penalties. I expected to see more out of Pitkanen, but he was ordinary at best (he was the one who left Iginla alone in the slot for the Flames 2nd - and game winning - goal).
No question, the Oil certainly have some nice players in Cogliano and Gagner, but they're not going to be able to carry this group for very long (certainly not yet, anyways). It's going to be a tough slog for the Oiler faithful this year and I almost feel sorry for them (not really).
**As an aside, I think the Torres blindside on Moss is suspension worthy. It wasn't overly vicious or delivered with ill-intent, but it was a cheap-shot on a player who wasn't aware and didn't have the puck. With the recent spate of egregious misconducts and long suspensions, I don't know if Torres will a.) benefit from a contrast effect, where his hit on Moss pales in comparison to the Boulerice and Downey actions, thereby looking less "suspension worthy" or b.) be a victim of the resultant rush to condemn head-shots. I guess we'll know soon enough.
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The Sharks will no doubt prove to be a stiffer test this evening. It'll be interesting to see if the Flame's apparent defensive improvement from last game was an actual step forward or merely an illusion conjured from Edmonton's impotence. While San Jose has been fairly mediocre to start the year, they historically play well against the Flames and are ALWAYS a threat to break-out thanks to their offensive depth led by Marleau and Thornton.
Prediction -
Flames 3, Sharks 2. Nolan, Langkow and Iginla for the Flames. Michalek and the irrepressible Mike Grier for the Sharks.
