Battle of Alberta for Edmonton, McDavid’s return against Calgary helped! Vlad didn’t play in the Heritage Classic

Conor McDavid returned to the lineup after an injury to help Edmonton end a four-game winless streak. Goaltender Jan Vladař did not play in the Heritage Classic, but Vit Vanecek contributed in the New Jersey Devils’ win.

McDavid is back

He came in at the right time and brought Edmonton luck. The league’s best player Connor McDavid returned to the Oilers lineup after an injury and the Oilers won the Battle of Alberta 5-2. They ended a four-game winless streak.

“Obviously it was a big win for the team and we needed it badly. It was a big game for us, and it didn’t matter if it was played inside the arena or outside. Obviously, it was even better when we won in front of that huge crowd ,” said a satisfied McDavid, who had one assist in the game.

But above all, his presence had a beneficial effect on his teammates. The Oilers are now hoping that winning the Heritage Classic in front of a sellout crowd of 55,000 fans will be the “turning point” for the rest of the season and the team will bounce back to a better tomorrow. “The way we went into the game and the way we wanted to play … that’s what adorns us.

And it’s a credit to the players in particular. I think we have a lot of pride in our organization, coaching staff and management, and nobody was unhappy with the way we started this season collectively.

But now we’re back to a certain way of playing. We’re making good contributions, we’re playing fast, we’re playing hard and we’re going to try to build on that,” Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said after the game.

He did not play in the game

Czech goaltender Dan Vladař did not play for Calgary, but his teammate Jacob Markstrom did. “Of course, I feel disappointed now. We came here for two points and we don’t have them. But we have to keep working because I think we found our rhythm from the second period on and we could have tied the game.

The atmosphere at Commonwealth Stadium was great. 55,000 people in the stands, it was a great event. But for us, without the points we came here for, so it’s hard to find any positives in it now. For me personally it was a great experience, even though I didn’t catch. I had time to watch all the scenery from the bench.

The booths were smaller, it was quite a long walk to the bench, so especially for us goalies it was a lot of work in our gear to get there. But everything went well, they had great sound, good lighting. Itwas a great show,” said Vladař after the Heritage Classic.

Other top moments

Vitek Vanecek made 31 saves and contributed to his New Jersey Devils’ 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild. He earned the award for 3rd star of the game.

“We played good hockey. They had a couple of power plays in the second period, they pressured us. They play the power play a little different than the rest of the league. It was tough for the players who went shorthanded, it was tough for me, but we got it done in the end,” Vaněček said after the game.

Source: NHL