Oilers Will Go Back to Mike Smith vs. Flames on Friday

The Edmonton Oilers will go back to Mike Smith between the pipes when they meet the Flames in Calgary on Friday night. Smith was pulled after allowing three first-period goals on just seven shots which put the Oilers in a 3-0 hole just six minutes into the latest installment of the Battle of Alberta.

Mikko Koskinen came in to stop the bleeding, but the patient was already on life support.

The backup allowed a pair of goals to open the second period, and Edmonton found themselves down 5-1 midway through the middle frame.

In a wild turn of events, the Oil scored four straight times to knot the game at six early in the third period. Koskinen then allowed markers by Rasmus Andersson and Matthew Tkachuk before the latter added an empty netter. The end result was an insane 9-6 hockey game reminiscent of when these two provincial rivals would light things up in the 80s.

Over at FanDuel Sportsbook, Edmonton is +146 moneyline dogs to even the series in Game 2 before heading back to Edmonton on Sunday.