Flames insist they’ve turned the page on playoff loss ahead of Battle of Alberta

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Most of the hockey world is salivating at this season’s first Battle of Alberta, set for Saturday night in Edmonton.

The storylines are aplenty: Edmonton and Calgary will meet for the first time since the Oilers eliminated the Flames in five games in the second round of the 2022 playoffs; Nazem Kadri gets his introduction to the most intense rivalry in the sport; and two squads with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations get an early measuring-stick game.

Then there is Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom, whose struggles against the Oilers have been well-documented. Since signing with the Flames in 2020, his 0.884 save percentage versus Edmonton is his fourth-worst of any opponent. After outduelling Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars to the tune of a 0.943 save percentage and 1.53 goals-against average, Markstrom fell apart versus Connor McDavid and company, allowing over five goals a game and stopping just 85 per cent of the shots he faced.

Markstrom said he spent part of the off-season reflecting on the early exit.

“Obviously a sour taste,” he said on Tuesday. “The Edmonton series wasn’t good…you’ve gotta forget about it and move on. It was tough the first few weeks, but then you go home to Sweden and you start hanging out with your family and friends and preparing and setting up a plan for this upcoming season. You don’t want that to happen again but it’s a long road there.”

Three days later and after an opening-night win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, where he stopped 22 of 25 shots, Calgary’s starting goalie said he’s focused on the present.

“Game two of a new season,” the 32-year-old said, of his approach to Saturday night. “They got some good players on that team and so do we.