Oilers, Flames alumni look back at last playoff Battle of Alberta: 'A lot of hate'

CALGARY — Esa Tikkanen could feel his team's season, and perhaps the Edmonton Oilers' dynasty, starting to slip away.

He also knew a 3-0 deficit — even in the knife-edged Battle of Alberta — didn't mean much at the time.

The Oilers found themselves in that big hole early in Game 7 against the Calgary Flames on April 16, 1991, at what was then known as the Olympic Saddledome.

Looking to shake his team to life, Edmonton head coach John Muckler called timeout late in the first period.

"He goes, 'Well guys, we have to start to play hockey if we want to keep going,'" Tikkanen recalled in a phone interview from his native Finland. "The next shift I scored a big goal — slapshot from blue line on Mike Vernon in the five-hole.

"That was the turning point."

The Oilers would tie the score in the second, including Tikkanen's second of the night, and then grab the lead in the third only to have the Flames knot it up late.

Just under seven minutes into overtime, with a province holding its collective breath, Tikkanen dashed down the right side on a hopeful 1-on-4 rush before firing a shot that ticked off Calgary defenceman Frantisek Musil and sailed past Vernon to cap the teams' fifth playoff meeting in nine years.

"A great battle," Tikkanen said. "One of greatest series in hockey history."

The provincial rivals, however, would both fall on hard times for long stretches and not meet again in the post-season for more than three decades — a showdown that started this week and once again has the attention of the hockey world.

But not for all of the same reasons.

Now it's largely about the speed and skill of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk.

Sure, there's dislike on both sides in 2022.

But back in