Leon Draisaitl was tight-lipped after David Rittich celebrated a shootout-winning save on him with a Jose Bautista-style stick flip when the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames met on Wednesday night.

Fast forward to Saturday, after the Oilers cranked the Flames 8-3 in a highly emotional game that featured a goalie fight, Draisaitl decided to share his honest opinion about the stick flip.

"It's just disrespectful," he told TSN's Ryan Rishaug postgame. "We hit two posts and he's acting like they just won the Stanley Cup."

Draisaitl got the last laugh, as Rittich was pulled Saturday after allowing four goals, but was forced to re-enter the contest after Cam Talbot was ejected following his scrap with Mike Smith. Rittich proceeded to allow two more goals in the losing effort, while Draisaitl extended his league-leading point total with four assists.

Smith spent the last two seasons as Rittich's teammate in Calgary. He acknowledged that the two have a relationship, but admitted Rittich takes things too far.

"What goes around comes around," Smith said.

Unfortunately, the next installment of the Battle of Alberta won't take place until April 4, the last game of the regular season for each club. Mark your calendars.

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New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider will not return to Saturday's contest against the Detroit Red Wings after suffering an upper-body injury, the team announced.

Kreider went to the locker room in the second period after taking an inadvertent knee to the head from teammate Mika Zibanejad.

The 28-year-old winger is considered one of the most coveted pending unrestricted free agents ahead of the Feb. 24 trade deadline.

Kreider was playing excellent hockey entering Saturday's tilt, notching six goals and nine points over his last nine contests. He ranks third on the Rangers in both goals (18) and hits (91) while averaging 17:42 of ice time per game this season.

The Massachusetts native took part in his first career All-Star Weekend in January after replacing teammate Artemi Panarin at the event.

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Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov exited Saturday's 4-0 loss against the Montreal Canadiens with a lower-body injury.

The 24-year-old center did not return to the game after getting tangled up with Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber near the midway mark of the second period.

Following the contest, head coach Joel Quenneville said the team doesn't think Barkov's injury is serious and will have more on his status on Sunday, according to FloridaPanthers.com reporter Jameson Olive.

Losing Barkov for an extended period would be a significant loss for a Panthers team in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race. The 6-foot-3 Finn ranks second on the club with 54 points while averaging 19:58 of ice time per game, which leads all Florida forwards.

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Jesperi Kotkaniemi has been sent down to Laval for the first time in his career.

The Montreal Canadiens have assigned the 19-year-old forward to their AHL affiliate, the club announced Saturday.

More to come.

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Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton could return to the lineup before the end of the regular season.

The blue-chip rearguard was expected to miss the remainder of the campaign after suffering a broken fibula on Jan. 16 against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but the timeline for Hamilton's recovery has general manager Don Waddell pondering a potential return.

"The only thing that I'm cautious about is with Dougie they say 8-12 weeks," Waddell said Friday, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti. "If he's 10 weeks, that's the last week of March."

Wadell will have to decide how to approach the Feb. 24 trade deadline with Hamilton's status still somewhat uncertain. Carolina could place Hamilton and his $5.75-million cap hit on long-term injured reserve in order to create more cap space, but using that space to add another player could prevent the team from activating a healthy Hamilton for what's shaping up to be a critical final stretch.

"If he was ready to go that last week of the season, starting on March 28, we have five games," Wadell said. "Those might be the most important five games of the year. So if he was ready to come back, you'd want to try to keep space to bring him back."

Hamilton was in the conversation for the Norris Trophy this season, recording 14 goals and 40 points in 47 games before sustaining the injury. The 26-year-old earned his first All-Star nod earlier in January.

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