The Edmonton Oilers are just one win away from bringing an end to the Battle of Alberta and going to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2006. Tuesday night saw the Oilers notch a third straight win over the Calgary Flames in a hotly contested match that nearly had them throw a three-goal lead away.
A win on Thursday night would see Edmonton close the series out 4-1 but the bookmakers seem to be confident Calgary can force at least one more game and the Ontario sports betting scene is likely wild at the moment. The Flames are headed into Thursday’s game as 4/6 money line favorites, with the total set at 6.5.
ESPN will be broadcasting the contest, which will begin at 9:30 pm ET at the Flames’ Scotiabank Saddledome.
Where the series is concerned, the Oilers are favored by the bookies at 2/11, with the Flames 17/4. Edmonton is 12/5 to win the Western Conference, with the Colorado Avalanche the outright favorites at 4/9.
The Oilers got off to a quick start in Game 4, going up 1-0 mere seconds from the puck drop, and ended the first period 3-0. The Flames would cut the lead to one in the second period, scoring twice, just 36 seconds apart before tying the game with a bizarre shorthand goal. Edmonton, though, was able to go back ahead six minutes later as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his second to put his team up for good, with Evander Kane scoring another for good measure for 5-3. Kane’s two goals leave him with a playoff-high 12 as Connor McDavid has continued to prove his excellence.
McDavid provided a pair of assists to give him 25 points in just 11 playoff outings. The Art Ross Trophy favorite has scored 11 points so far in the series and has registered at least two points in every game, save one, this postseason.
Although he made a mistake for Calgary’s game-tying goal, Mike Smith showed Jacob Markstrom up with 29 saves. The latter has been very poor in the series, having conceded four goals on 25 shots, and has let 19 of them past him in four games. Markstrom had only conceded 11 goals in seven in the Flames seven-game series in the first round.
His struggles against the Oilers began in the regular season. He logged a 3.55 GAA and .884 save percentage against Edmonton, having posted a 2.22 GAA and .922 save percentage over the course of the campaign.
The goaltender will need to do a lot better if his team is going to have any chance of coming back from 3-1 down. The team will hope that his record at home will prove helpful. Markstrom was 22-8-7 at home in the regular season, during which he posted a 2.17 GAA.
If he can return to form, the Flames will have a chance. They had a 64 percent to 36 percent Corsi advantage in the last outing and had more shots on goal, as well as more high-danger chances. They have a 58 percent to 42 percent Corsi advantage for the series and have come up with more chances, plus 1.6 more expected goals.
The Flames are also on top when it comes to man advantage.
The bookies are right to believe the Flames will win Game 5 as the numbers suggest as much, as long as Markstrom plays up to his standard. It will take a lot as he’s struggled for four straight games but he will be keen on bringing an end to the poor run and Thursday’s game might be his last opportunity.
 For the Oilers, defenseman Cody Ceci has been superb but his exploits are seldom discussed.
“He’s the unsung hero of the team,” winger Zach Hyman said of his teammate this week. “He’s a guy who doesn’t get talked about enough. He’s just been irreplaceable for us back there.”
Ceci had a pretty rough few years in the NHL and took lots of criticism from the media, as well as fans, to the point where he stopped going on Twitter.
“We’re always on our phones nowadays. It does wear on you as much as you try to ignore it,” he said. “It’s always creeping in. You get better at it over time. You learn what to look at and when to look at it.
“I was a younger player and let it affect my confidence a little bit. It took off in its own way. People got a hold of it and ran with it. I’ve spent a lot of time over the last few years trying to move past all that, get my confidence back and show people that I can be a good player.”
Ceci is now playing his best hockey and his contributions could help fire the Oilers to the conference finals. It would spell quite the redemption.
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