For the second time in four days, the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames stole the spotlight of the hockey world because of the heated Battle of Alberta.
After losing in a shootout Wednesday, the Oilers put up eight goals on their regional rival behind Connor McDavid's pair of tallies and four assists from Leon Draisaitl.
Not only did the matchup at the Scotiabank Saddledome contain plenty of scoring, but it also possessed a goalie fight and 102 penalty minutes.
The Boston Bruins were one of two teams to finish second in scoring Saturday night by posting six goals in a victory over the Minnesota Wild. Torey Krug played a hand in four of the tallies, while David Pastrnak added his 38th goal of the season.
The Philadelphia Flyers also put six on the scoreboard during a slate that featured four overtime game-winners and a shootout.
Saturday NHL Scores
Buffalo 2, Columbus 1 (Final/OT)
Vancouver 4, New York Islanders 3 (Final/OT)
Montreal 4, Florida 0
Winnipeg 5, St. Louis 2
Toronto 2, Ottawa 1 (Final/OT)
New York Rangers 1, Detroit 0
Dallas 3, New Jersey 2 (Final/OT)
Philadelphia 6, Colorado 3
Chicago 3, Arizona 2 (Final/Shootout)
Vegas 3, Nashville 0
Boston 6, Minnesota 1
Edmonton 8, Calgary 3
Anaheim 3, Los Angeles 1
Tampa Bay 3, San Jose 0
Connor McDavid Scores Twice
Goalie Fight Breaks Out in Battle of Alberta
Torey Krug's 4-Point Outing
Jack Eichel's Overtime Game-Winner
Quinn Hughes Earns Win For Vancouver
Carey Price's 29-Save Shutout
Henrik Lundqvist Makes Terrific Glove Save
Curtis McElhinney Shuts Out San Jose
Jack Roslovic's 2-Goal Night
Mitch Marner's Winner for Toronto
Brandon Saad Flicks Shot Top Shelf
Patrick Kane Eludes Goalie
Sam Steel's No-Look Pass
McDavid Helps Oilers Avenge Loss to Flames
McDavid recorded his 28th and 29th goals in the rout of the Flames that carried plenty of tension on the ice.
Edmonton gained the advantage on the scoreboard 29 seconds into the contest through Kailer Yamamoto, and McDavid finished off the three-goal first period with his opening tally.
The 23-year-old followed that up by finding the back of the net in the second stanza. He was the only Edmonton player with multiple goals. Zack Kassian and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins were among the other scorers.
With his two goals, McDavid became the fifth-youngest player to eclipse 450 NHL points, per Sportsnet Stats:
The victory was the first for the Oilers against the Flames this season, and the players admitted the clash felt like a playoff environment, as Edmonton goalie Mike Smith noted to NHL.com's Aaron Vickers:
"Those are fun games to play in. Not with all the fighting and stuff, obviously, that's part of it, but just high-intensity hockey. Especially the end of January, early February, you're playing important games. Those are important points for our team. Our guys battled hard. We were relentless tonight."
Edmonton sits second in the Pacific Division, two points back of the Vancouver Canucks, while the Flames occupy the first wild-card position in the Western Conference.
The two sides have one contest remaining on the final day of the regular season, and they could square off in the postseason if the stars align.
Krug's 4-Point Night Leads Boston Past Minnesota
Krug helped the Bruins extend their winning streak to three games. His sixth and seventh goals of the season were the first two tallies of the contest, and then he assisted on strikes from Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk.
Like most teams, the Bruins are playing with a heightened sense of urgency out of the All-Star break, as Krug pointed out to NHL.com's Jessi Pierce:
"I think we're starting to realize the desperation it takes to win this time of year. It's going to be tough from here on out. It's important for us to come out and feel good about ourselves in Winnipeg and come into this game tonight and win a different style, but that's what you need to do this time of year."
Boston holds a five-point advantage over the Tampa Bay Lightning at the top of the Atlantic Division and is one point behind the Washington Capitals in the fight for home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference.
The Bruins' next three games come against Western Conference opposition in the playoff mix. They host Vancouver on Tuesday, visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday and welcome the Arizona Coyotes to TD Garden on Saturday.
Vancouver leads the Pacific Division, while Arizona and Chicago are second and third, respectively, in the wild-card race.
Sunday NHL Schedule
Pittsburgh at Washington (12:30 p.m. ET, NBC)
Columbus at Montreal (2 p.m. ET)
Vancouver at Carolina (2 p.m. ET)
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from NHL.com.
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