Something's Gotta Give | 
What’s going on in the province of Alberta?
With their losses Thursday night, the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames are on disastrous losing streaks, putting major dents in the playoff hopes of both teams. The Oilers are a little more worse for wear, having lost 12 games in a row, and sit dead last in the NHL with 38 points.
Many point immediately to the goaltending issue. Nikolai Khabibulin has been sidelined with an injury since mid-November and his replacements, Jeff Deslauriers and Devin Dubnyk, have not filled the void.
The goal scoring has also dried up. In what started as a dream season for Dustin Penner, silencing many of his critics, he only has eight points since December 15th, a span of 20 games.
Adding to their scoring woes, Andrew Cogliano and Shawn Horcoff have combined for only four goals and eleven points over that same stretch. Add in the fact that Ales Hemsky was lost for the season back in November, and it’s not hard to fathom why the Oilers have sank like a rock in the past two months.
For a team that was supposed to battle for a playoff position under new head coach Pat Quinn, this season has been a huge disappointment. Now, with Sheldon Souray allowing the Oilers to seek a trade for him, things can only go up for the Oilers. High skilled players should be brought in through the draft, continuing the long, drawn out rebuilding process.
Moving across the province, the Flames jumped into third place only three weeks ago, everything thought all was fine on the Red Mile. However, now that they’ve lost eight in a row and sit outside of the playoffs looking in, there is much concern in Calgary; as well as a call for changes.
Ilya Kovalchuk has been brought up, and that leaves two options. The first, they give the asking price for a rental player – a roster player, a high profiled prospect, and draft picks. Or, they trade one of their higher paid players – see Dion Phaneuf – and a few other lesser lights in order to match his money demands and fit him into their tight cap situation. The struggle to score goals has been well documented.
Seven million dollar defenseman Jay Bouwmeester hasn’t scored in 36 games; Oli Jokinen has two in his last eleven; Jarome Iginla has one in his last 13; and Dion Phaneuf has one in his last 19. Kovalchuk would definitely help the floundering offence.
Unlike Edmonton however, the goaltending has been as stellar; as you would only expect from Olympian Mikka Kiprusoff. He is in the top ten in save percentage (.924), goals against average (2.25), shutouts (3) and wins (23). He definitely cannot be blamed for the Flames woes.
With the trade deadline looming – including a 14-day freeze over the Olympic break – Flames GM Darryl Sutter will need to soon decide whether his team is a seller or a buyer.
The attention for now however, focuses on their match-up tonight, and the renewal of the Battle of Alberta. From previous meetings, it’s guaranteed to be a tough, physical game.
What’s also guaranteed is that someone’s lengthy losing streak will come to an end.
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