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Oilers hope to remain unbeaten in rematch with Flames

Oct 18, 2008 - 10:07 AM Calgary (1-2-1) at Edmonton (3-0-0), 10:00pm EDT

EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- As the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames get set to meet for the second time in as many nights, the Flames only can hope to slow down their provincial rivals.

The teams will complete their home-and-home series on Saturday, when the "Battle of Alberta" shifts to Rexall Place.

Edmonton posted a 4-3 victory in Calgary on Friday. With another win, the team would improve to 4-0-0 for the first time since the 1985-86 campaign.

If Calgary expects to emerge victorious in Saturday's rematch, it will have to get its defense - particularly goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff - untracked.

The former Vezina Trophy winner, who is coming off an up-and-down 2007-08 season, has stumbled out of the gate, allowing 19 goals in four games thus far. The 31-year-old Finn opened the season by allowing six goals on just 23 shots in a 6-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, and things have not gotten too much better since.

In Friday's showdown, the Oilers took advantage of eight penalties, making the Flames pay with a flurry of power-play goals in the second period to take control. Erik Cole, who was acquired in July from the Carolina Hurricanes, scored a man-advantage goal - his first tally as an Oiler - just 6 1/2 minutes into the second session to tie the game at 2-2.

Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky and Robert Nilsson added power-play goals of their own later in the period, and the Oilers held on for the win.

Kiprusoff stopped 31 of 35 shots to raise his save percentage to .843, which still ranks among the lowest in the league.

His counterpart on Saturday likely will be Mathieu Garon, who got the night off in Calgary in favor of rookie Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers. Garon performed well in the Oilers' first two games, posting a pair of victories and a 2.00 goals-against average.

Todd Bertuzzi leads the Flames with four goals in four games.