Oilers' Smith, Flames' Talbot duke it out in brawl-filled Battle of Alberta

There’s nothing quite like a goalie fight, is there?

We were told the tensions brewing within the Battle of Alberta had more or less evaporated. We were told the players would be focused purely on the outcome of the game, what with the Zack Kassian v. Matthew Tkachuk Saga seemingly reaching its conclusion on Wednesday night. Apparently, we were told wrong.

Late in the second period of tonight’s meeting between the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, tempers hit a fever pitch, resulting in what can only be described as a full-out line brawl. But that wasn’t even the best part, my friends. No, the true icing on the cake came when Oilers goaltender, Mike Smith skated to centre ice in anticipation of meeting Flames netminder, Cam Talbot.

Talbot, succumbing to the moment, obliged him, and a rare and coveted goalie fight quickly ensued.

With the bout now deemed a “secondary fight”, both Smith and Talbot have been ejected.

It truly appears as if there are no heights this rivalry cannot reach. Between all the hoopla surrounding the Kassian and Tkachuk debacle, followed by the ensuing rematch and then capped off with tonight’s fisticuffs, a semblance of pure, genuine hate has been injected into a once-legendary blood feud that burned white-hot not too long ago.

The Oilers and Flames DO NOT like each other. And hockey is more entertaining for it.

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