Weekly Lost & Found: Flames, Oilers, Avalanche & Blues

In an interesting turn of events, this edition of the Weekly Lost & Found has us sticking to the Western Conference, with stops in the midwest and Canada. Two heated, bitter geographic and Pacific Division rivals find themselves on the same playing field. Meanwhile, two Central Division foes have combined for 16 wins in 20 games over their respective past 10 games.

It will be interesting to see how certain question marks may be answered or already thriving teams complemented as the trade deadline nears, and the games increase in importance. Weekly Lost & Found, 13th edition, let’s go.

Lost: Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers Losses Are Piling Up

Flames Have Cooled off After Hot Start to Season

After a solid start to the season and an appearance on the good side of the third Weekly Lost & Found edition, the Flames look to be coming back down to earth. They have just three wins in their last 10 games and won one of four games this past week. They finish the week on a three-game losing streak. 

They’ve allowed the fifth-least goals in the NHL, but over their three losses this week, they allowed 16 while scoring just six. Their lone win this past week, defeating the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1, could have a bit of an asterisk next to it. The Hawks’ 3.40 goals-against per game is seventh-most in the league.

Goaltending has been a bright spot. Both Jacob Markstrom and Daniel Vladar are having strong seasons but struggled this past week, splitting the four starts. Despite this recent slide, the offense has been relatively potent. Four players have at least 12 goals and 21 points.

A source of comfort throughout their season has been special teams. Their power play sits at 21.4%, and their penalty kill is in the top-10 at 83.7%. Despite slowing down from their six-game winning streak early on, special teams performances like that and their strong goaltending should help them right the ship. 

This team should be fine and shouldn’t worry too much about this slide yet. It helps that they’re tied with the Seattle Kraken for the fewest games played in their division with 33, so they may have an advantage down the stretch depending on scheduling. Due to COVID-19 postponements, they’ll have a lone game against the Ottawa Senators this upcoming week.

Oilers Still Reeling, Need To Turn Things Around ASAP

The Oilers last saw themselves in the ninth edition amid a five-game losing streak. Now, it’s roughly a month later, and the Oilers have yet to figure things out. This past week, they were winless in both games, conceding eight goals while scoring just three. They’re now 2-6-2 in their past 10 games. 

What to say, what to say. They can’t rely on Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and their top-ranked power play to take them to the “promised land.” Currently, McDavid is on COVID protocol, and while no one can realistically make up for that loss, this depth-lacking team gets all the more shallow.

To make matters worse, they’re handcuffed by having almost no salary cap flexibility to bring players in without moving players out. Up front, new free agent Evander Kane is someone they could attempt to bring in. However, goaltending is arguably what they need first and foremost. They’ve allowed 111 goals in 34 games this season. That’s 3.26 per game. 

Heading into this season, the Pacific Division looked like it would be the lesser competitive of the two discussed, but that’s just not the case. The two Albertan teams have a lot more to worry about in the immediate future than their counterparts in the Central. If they don’t correct it soon, the THW staff should have a lot to write about.