Young stars lead Edmonton Oilers 4-0 over Calgary Flames
The Edmonton Oilers' young stars shined, as they were on display for the first time in regular season action, by dominating the battle of Alberta in beating the Calgary Flames 4-0 on Thursday night.
How it went down
It's hard to believe that at the tender age of 23, Oilers forward Gilbert Brule is competing in his sixth NHL season. It was he who got the scoring started midway through the first period on the power
play, firing the puck in from the corner after Ryan Whitney had found him with a nice pass from the point.
With no scoring in the second period, Oilers rookie Jordan Eberle made it 2-0 with a spectacular individual effort while shorthanded. Eberle brought the puck in all alone and fired the puck into the roof
of the net past a sprawling Mikka Kiprusoff while diving through the air. Eberle's spectacular effort is already being talked about as a potential goal-of-the-year candidate.
In just three minutes and 40 seconds the Oilers had two more goals, one from Ales Hemsky and another power play goal from captain Shawn Horcoff, to put the seal on a comfortable victory.
What they're saying
The two main talking points after Thursday night's game were the play of Edmonton's young rookies, Taylor Hall, Magnus Pajaarvi, and Eberle, as well as the strong performance put in by newly acquired goaltender
Nikolai Khabibulin who earned the shutout, with 37 saves, in his first game for his new team.
"The fans came to see a glimpse of the future and they got it," Horcoff said of his Oilers team-mates and the impressive performance they put in. "I can't think of another thing you could have added to
make it a better scenario.
"It was impressive. The effort was there tonight. That's our focus here. We're building toward something and the only way to do that is through effort and work."
Khabibulin was quick to downplay his performance and its importance, and instead attempted to deflect the spotlight onto the team's rookies. "It was one game," he said. "Obviously, it's nice to start that
way. I don't think I felt great in the first period.
"My legs kind of felt heavy, but then I got into it a little bit. I thought we played a game as good as we could play. We skated pretty well and limited their chances, I think. The young kids played good."
What's next
The offensively challenged Calgary Flames did not start the season the way they would have wanted and will look to bounce back in their home opener when they host the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday night
The Edmonton Oilers will be feeling confident that they can jump out to an early 2-0 start to the season as they will host the Florida Panthers on Sunday night.
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