Prospect FGD: Flames vs. Oilers (8:30pm MT)

After a 6-4 win over the Jets prospects on Friday night, the Calgary Flames prospects are back at it. And expect the aggression to get amped up a bit, as their game this evening is against the hated Edmonton Oilers prospects. Puck drop is 8:30pm MT and you can catch the game on Sportsnet 960 The Fan or by a webcast on the Flames site.

For the curious, the Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks prospects 4-3 in overtime last night.

The Flames won a roller-coaster game last night, with the team rolling with the punches in the second period and then turning on the gas in the third period to pull away with the win.

Lines, courtesy of the great Pat Steinberg (@fan960steinberg):

Gaudreau – Bennett – Ferland
Agostino – Arnold – Carroll
Klimchuk – Jooris – Padakin
Hathaway – Elson – Smith

Kanzig – Fram
Gedig – Kulak
Culkin – Ramage

McDonald
Mancina

Lordy, I love that first line. Scratches for the game are Ortio, Roy, Sieloff, Neill, Magee, Van Brabant, Granlund and Bell. Nice mixes of size and speed/finesse throughout the lines. Ferland gets rewarded for his great game last night with a plum spot alongside the two prospect golden boys.

The Oilers have a pretty good prospect base. It feels dirty to write that, but they’ve done a strong job of drafting in the later rounds in recent years. Heck, I’ve seen Greg Chase play a lot over the past few years, and I’m insanely envious of the Oilers, because he’s a good hand they got in a late, late round.

Lines, via the Oilers official Twitter:

Krushelniski – Ewanyk – Platzer
K. Jones – C. Jones – Kessy
Tkachev – Yakimov – Winquist
Moroz – Roy – Chase

Oesterle – Simpson
Betker – Musil
Craig – Ludwig

Rimmer
Tuohimaa

The Oilers have a pretty good mix of players. Arguably their weak area here is the defensive group, but this is a competitive group and their forward groupings are really strong. The Flames defensive kids have their hands full tonight.

It’s the first round of the Battle of Alberta of the 2014-15 hockey season! Sure, it’s “only” a prospects tournament, but expect everybody to have their blood up – there’s no better way to get on the coaching staff’s radar than a strong performance against the boys up north.