The Battle of Alberta has all the makings of a classic

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This is what Gary Bettman wanted. The divisional NHL playoff format is often criticized, but its ultimate goal is to produce rivalry series. And by that standard, in 2022, the format succeeded.

In the East, the Lightning and Panthers will drop the puck on an intrastate playoff matchup for the second straight season.

But our focus is on the West, where the Flames and Oilers will meet in the post-season for the first time since 1991. The winner earns a berth to the conference final (against either the Avalanche or Blues) and moves one step closer to becoming the first Canadian team to hoist the Stanley Cup since 1993.

The Battle of Alberta begins with Game 1 tomorrow at 9:30 p.m. ET. Each game will be available on CBC TV, CBCSports.ca and the CBC Sports app. Here's the tale of the tape:

Head-to-head

Each team earned a pair of regulation wins, with total goals favouring the Flames 17-16. Calgary won the most recent meeting 9-5 in a game where Oilers goalie Mike Smith even picked up a roughing penalty against — you guessed it — Matthew Tkachuk. We'll take seven more like that, please.

WATCH | Memorable moments from the Battle of Alberta:

Offence

On paper, it's tough to beat the collection of offensive firepower in this series, which features four 100-point scorers: Edmonton's Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and Calgary's Johnny Gaudreau and Tkachuk. Individually, those players delivered in the first round — especially McDavid, whose 14 points lead the playoffs. Evander Kane, who joined Edmonton mid-season, is tops among remaining players with seven goals.

In reality, the