From an entertainment standpoint, Saturday night's Oilers-Flames game in Calgary was kind of disappointing.

Edmonton lost 3-2 in regulation. Connor McDavid extended his point streak to 12 games. Evan Bouchard scored on the power play. Blake Coleman, Yegor Sharangovich, and Ryan Lomberg scored for Calgary. Connor Ingram made 29 saves. It was a perfectly fine hockey game.

But where was the spice? Where was the chaos? Where was the intensity we saw from the Edmonton Oilers four days ago?

No real fighting. Sure, guys were getting shoved around—Ryan Lomberg chopped up a conversation with Darnell Nurse in warmups, Adam Klapka tried making statements with a few deep skates over the red line—but it's still the NHL. Players talk in warmups. They skate around. That's not exactly entertainment.

No Trent Frederic doing what Trent Frederic was brought to the Oilers to do. Tuesday he fought Kevin Bahl after a blindside hit on Zach Hyman. Saturday? Nothing. He dressed. He played 7:15. He wasn't a factor.

Four days after a 5-1 beatdown that featured Leon Draisaitl's hat trick, Connor McDavid's five assists, and Mackenzie Weegar getting kicked out for bashing his stick against the glass in protest, you might expect a little more from the visiting team.

Cole Hutson (Quinn Hutson’s Brother) Rejoins Team USA After Scary InjuryAfter a scary puck incident, Cole Hutson (brother of Oilers' Quinn Hutson) is out of the hospital and back with Team USA, bringing welcome relief and good news.

Now don't get me wrong, this was far from a boring game. But it wasn't quite what we were hoping for.

The moral of the story is that had we had nothing to compare this to, it'd actually be a really good game. Calgary came out fast and energetic. They scored first through Sharangovich at 7:00 of the first period. Edmonton responded with Bouchard's power play goal at 8:36. The game stayed tight. Calgary took the lead on Lomberg's steal and breakaway goal at 3:28 of the second. Blake Coleman made it 3-1 at 12:31 of the third. McDavid cut it to 3-2 with 4:32 left, but that was as close as Edmonton got.

From Calgary's perspective, this is exactly the kind of game the Flames need to play. They were fast. They were physical without taking stupid penalties. They defended well. Dustin Wolf made 29 saves. They protected a lead against one of the league's best offences and walked away with two points.

It's The Best Time Of Year For Hockey FansIf you're a hockey fan, this is the best time of year. Period.

If they play like they did Saturday night every night, then we should all be worried. The Flames looked structured, committed, and dangerous. They scored timely goals. They didn't collapse when McDavid started pushing late. They earned the win.

But good news is they don't play like that every night. Calgary is 16-18-4 and outside the playoff picture for a reason. Saturday was them at their best, responding after getting embarrassed at Rogers Place four days earlier.

"Coming out of three days off, we wanted to have a little better start than we did," Bouchard said afterward. "But I thought as the game went on, we got better."

Isaac Howard's Ideal TimelineThe question hovering over Isaac Howard isn’t whether he’s good enough for the NHL. It’s whether there’s actually room for him, and whether six weeks in Bakersfield is enough time to understand just how fast the show really moves.

Andrew Mangiapane, a former Flame, had basically the same thing to say.

"I think their intensity was kind of up there today. I think it also falls on us that our start was a little slow and sluggish. It's a couple of days off, and all that you don't want to use as an excuse because they're going through the same thing."

That's the problem. Both teams were coming off the holiday break. Both had three days off. Calgary came out with energy. Edmonton didn't match it until the third period when it was too late.

"We did get off to a slow start. We had a push in the third period," summed up Kris Knoblauch. "They were hanging on, and we just couldn't find that tying goal. Some goal posts and chances, but we weren't as sharp as we were before the break."

Oilers Officially Announce Plans to Terminate David Tomasek's ContractDavid Tomasek's NHL tenure ends as the Edmonton Oilers will terminate his contract, clearing cap space for his return to Europe.

So there you go; not as sharp. Tuesday's game spoiled us. Five goals. A hat trick. Five assists from one player. Fights. Misconducts. Players getting kicked out. Complete domination from start to finish.

Saturday was just hockey. Good hockey, even. But after Tuesday's circus, good hockey felt a little flat.

The Oilers went 1-for-3 on the power play after going 3-for-6 on Tuesday. McDavid had one goal instead of five assists. Draisaitl was held off the scoresheet. No fights broke out. No one got kicked out. Calgary didn't fall apart. Edmonton didn't dominate.

Can The Money Saved On Tomasek Be Used On a Game-Changer in Goal?The Oilers' placing Tomasek on waivers frees up $1.2 million. Could this cap space lure Marc-André Fleury to the team if he comes out of retirement?

It was a 3-2 game that stayed competitive until the final five minutes. That should be entertaining enough. But context matters, and the context is that four days ago we watched these two teams produce one of the most lopsided Battle of Alberta games in recent memory.

Saturday was fine. It was respectable. It was a game both teams could take positives from.

But where'd all the excitement go? Because it wasn't around in that 3-2 loss in regulation to the Flames.

Bookmark The Hockey News Edmonton Oilers team site to never miss the latest news, game-day coverage, and more.   Add us to your Google News favourites, and never miss a story.