Flames at Oilers
THE STORY: The Calgary Flames will be without one of its top blue liners Saturday night when they visit the Edmonton Oilers in the next chapter of the storied Battle of Alberta. The Flames have learned that veteran defenseman Mark Giordano is out indefinitely after he suffered partially ruptured tendons in his left leg while going down to block a shot in Tuesday's victory over the Nashville Predators. Giordano had four goals and four assists in 23 games and was the club's most dependable back-end player, averaging more than 22 minutes of ice time per game. His absence will make defending Oilers sharpshooters Ryan Smyth, Jordan Eberle and rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins even more difficult. Edmonton is coming off a 6-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets highlighted by Ryan Jones' third-period hat trick.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, CBC
ABOUT THE FLAMES (10-12-2): The loss of Giordano dampens what has been a decent stretch of hockey for Calgary, which is 2-0-1 in its past three games. The Flames looked to have a three-game winning streak in their back pocket Wednesday night but squandered a two-goal lead with just over four minutes remaining and went on to drop a 4-3 shootout decision to lowly Columbus. Flames forward Rene Bourque succinctly summed up the collapse: "They outworked us in the last 5 minutes."
ABOUT THE OILERS (13-10-3): Friday was a special day for Nugent-Hopkins, who was named the NHL's rookie of the month for the second consecutive time to open the season. He's the first freshman to open the season with back-to-back monthly honors since Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin accomplished the feat in 2006. Nugent-Hopkins had a sensational November, recording six goals and 10 assists in 14 games. He was also the first 18-year-old in history to register five assists in a game.
OVERTIME:
1. Calgary shaded Edmonton 2-1 in their only previous meeting of the season. The Flames have dominated the head-to-head series, winning the last six games – though four of them were decided by a goal, including two in a shootout.
2. The Flames went just 38 percent from the faceoff dot against the Blue Jackets, solidifying their place as the worst faceoff team in the league.
3. Smyth is certainly no stranger to the rival Flames. The veteran forward has faced them 75 times in his career – more than any other team – and has 20 goals and 23 assists all-time.