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Prior to the start of this season, the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers had very different expectations. The Oilers fan base was expecting the teams first playoff berth since the 2005-2006 season while the Flames were entering a franchise rebuild after trading cornerstone Jarome Iginla at the trade deadline the previous season and losing long-time starting goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff to retirement. On Saturday night, the Flames skated to an 8-1 romp over the Oilers in Edmonton, leaving many to wonder which team was further ahead in the race for the playoffs next season. Not surprisingly, the Flames currently sit well outside of a playoff spot with most fans showing the patience and support for the rebuild that president of hockey operations and interim general manager Brian Burke has asked for. The Oilers, on the other hand, now sit last in the Western Conference, six points behind the Flames and mathematically eliminated from the playoffs with a fan base fed up with a fifth straight losing season. President of hockey operations Kevin Lowe pronounced the team to be "poised for greatness" last season, yet that greatness remains to be seen. With both team already looking toward next season, the question in the Battle of Alberta is which team will make the playoffs first: the Flames or the Oilers? On paper, it would appear the advantage is with the Oilers. The team has three former first-overall draft picks on their roster and two other first-round picks in Sam Gagner and Jordan Eberle. Their goaltending tandem is set for next season with Ben Scrivens and Viktor Fasth and the team has their 2013 first-round pick, Darnell Nurse, developing in the OHL. However, the Oilers recent struggles has surrounded the team with question marks, including entertaining thoughts of trading one of the young stars to meet another need. The Flames appear to be on a much steadier course, trusting in Burke to put together a team that will enter the playoffs in the near future. Burkes history with rebuilding the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs inspires confidence that, with time, the team will reach the playoffs. Burke also put the finishing touches on the Anaheim Ducks that propelled them to a Stanley Cup. "I think I add a value. Ive been able to fix just about every team Ive worked for, sometimes quicker than others." Burke said when he was introduced as a member of Flames organization. Burke also inspired confidence with his 2013 first-round draft pick Sean Monahan. Monahan is second on the Flames in goals this season with 19 and fifth on the team in total points with 31. Both the Oilers and Flames will likely be in the draft lottery this season with a chance to select first overall, a disappointment for Edmonton and an expectation for Calgary. "Im an impatient guy. We have to do some bold things to move this team forward in a rapid fashion. We have to a better job arming our coaches and our core players with a group to get us to a highly-competitive level," Craig MacTavish said when he was introduced was the Oilers general manager last season. Moving forward, the Battle of Alberta may be turning into a race to see which team will make the playoffs first. Will the Flames steady rebuild pay off with a post-season entrance before the Oilers find a solution to their recent woes? Or will the Oilers embarrassment of young talent come together and deliver the playoff appearance fans are growing restless for? So, which team will make the playoffs first: the Oilers or Flames? As always, its Your! Call. Cheap Air Max 720 Online Australia . 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SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Even when they found themselves in a 3-0 series deficit to San Jose, the Los Angeles Kings never doubted they had what it takes to mount a memorable comeback. Thats what winning a Stanley Cup together two years earlier can do for a teams confidence and thats how a lack of post-season success can eat away at anothers psyche. Anze Kopitar scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period and Jonathan Quick made 39 saves to cap the Kings historic comeback from three games down with a 5-1 victory over the Sharks in Game 7 of their first-round series Wednesday night. "When youve gone to the top of the mountain with the same group of guys its a little bit easier when youre at the bottom to come up," said captain Dustin Brown, who scored an empty-net goal to seal the game. "Thats what a lot of this team is about, our guys who have stuck together and played together for years." Drew Doughty, Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson also scored for the Kings, who became the fourth NHL team to win a best-of-seven series after losing the first three games. The Kings joined Toronto (1942), the New York Islanders (1975) and Philadelphia (2010) as the only teams to complete that comeback and now will get another California showdown in the second-round with the first Freeway Playoff against the Anaheim Ducks. "Thats fantastic," Doughty said. "This is something were all going to remember for the rest of our lives. Were not done yet. We have to move on." Matt Irwin scored the lone goal and Antti Niemi made 25 saves for the Sharks, who added perhaps their most bitter playoff disappointment to a history of them. San Jose has the second most regular-season wins in the NHL the past 10 seasons but has never made it past the conference finals. "This is as low as its been for me, and for the players that have been together for the six years that Ive been here," coach Todd McLellan said. The way the Sharks started this series by outscoring the Kings 17-8 to win the first three games, it looked as if this could finally be their year. But Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and the rest of their stars went mostly missing the final four games, the power play could not convert on its final 15 chances and the defence made too many lapses, leading to their second sstraight Game 7 loss to their California rivals.dddddddddddd "Theres been a lot of low points, but yeah, this is definitely one of them being up 3-0," Marleau said. The Sharks took their first lead since Game 3 in the opening minute of the second when Irwins point shot beat Quick through a screen to provide a jolt to the crowd that only got bigger when San Jose drew a penalty less than a minute later. But a hooking call on Tommy Wingels negated that power play and Logan Couture then got called for an elbowing penalty, giving Los Angeles a two-man advantage for 6 seconds. Before Wingels could get back into the play, Doughty tied it when he beat Niemi from the faceoff circle. The Sharks had three more power plays in the second period to give them a chance to go back ahead, but Los Angeles killed every one of them with Quick robbing Marleau with a glove save on the goal line to thwart San Joses best chance. "Those were obviously critical," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. "Jonathan was able to make that one highlight save. I think that gave us a little momentum." That save was emblematic of a remarkable turnaround this series for Quick, who allowed 16 goals the first three games but held the Sharks to just five over the final four wins. The Kings responded after the fourth penalty kill when last years Game 7 hero Justin Williams found Kopitar, who made a nifty move to beat Niemi with a backhand to give him points in all seven games this series. "Drew, Quickie and Kopi were our three best players tonight," Brown said. "You win and lose with your best players." The Sharks lost because their core players came up empty late in the series with Irwin and third-liner James Sheppard getting the only goals in the final three games. "I think their defence just swallowed us up right now, to be honest with you," Thornton said. "They just played real tight defensively and their goaltender got hot like he usually does this time of the year." NOTES: The Kings became the fifth team to beat the same opponent in Game 7 in consecutive seasons. ... Both teams were without a key defenceman as San Joses Marc-Edouard Vlasic missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury and Willie Mitchell was out for Los Angeles after getting hurt in Game 6. ' ' '