Oilers Stuart Skinner called out for faking an injury after a dirty slash

The Oilers-Flames game was a chippy affair and it got dirty at one point after Stuart Skinner appears to have been slashed and seemed to fake an injury.

The first Battle of Alberta of the 2024-25 NHL season rapidly collapsed into chaos, with tensions flaring well before the close of the opening period. The rivalry between the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames was palpable, rocking both the players and the fans at Rogers Place.

It began when Calgary Flames forward Mikael Backlund came into contact with Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner on a forecheck. That it was not called a penalty on Backlund was adding insult to injury for the Oilers and their fans. The sequence in question saw Backlund slash at the back of Skinner's leg, an area with no padding. The slash didn't appear overly aggressive, but Skinner nonetheless briefly fell to the ice in what Flames fans are calling an injury fake and exaggeration.

Yet despite the insignificance of the slash, the Oilers' bench was incensed. The no-call on Backlund's action only added to the heightened frustrations, since the officials had just called back an Oilers goal for goaltender interference. Thus, a would-be Corey Perry goal was waved off after a very long review, pouring more fuel onto the fire of frustration on Edmonton's side.

Already upset, the fans became angry as the game developed a more contentious tone. The Oilers felt like victims of several questionable officiating decisions and were visibly affected. The crowd became electric inside the arena as both teams began an increasingly physical style of play with emotions running high.

It was the slash by Mikael Backlund and the goal that was overturned that finally worked as the spark that set this rough-and-bitter contest into being, as it did for a series of contests between the two rivals. The game proved how fast games can get out of hand in such an intense rivalry.

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