NEW JERSEY VS. TORONTO BUFFALO VS. PITTSBURGH COLORADO VS. LOS ANGELES DALLAS VS. ST. LOUIS

Thursday, April 26 The Battle of Alberta Joy Russo ESPN.com There is an infamous story that followed the Oilers' four-game series loss to the Islanders in the 1983 Stanley Cup finals. Oilers 4, Flames 3 Date Result Goalie 4/12 Oilers 5, Flames 2 Fuhr 4/13 Flames 6, Oilers 5 Edwards 4/15 Oilers 3, Flames 2 Fuhr 4/16 Oilers 5, Flames 3 Fuhr 4/18 Flames 5, Oilers 4 Lemelin 4/20 Flames 5, Oilers 4 Lemelin 4/22 Oilers 7, Flames 4 Moog Some of the Oilers, including Wayne Gretzky, walked past the Islanders locker room after New York had won their fourth straight Stanley Cup title. Seeing an Islanders squad bruised and battered, rather than joyous and celebratory, Edmonton players came to a realization – that's what it took to win. And so a mission began. The Oilers bulldozed through the regular season, amassing a league-leading 119 points behind Gretzky's 205 points. Edmonton swept the Winnipeg Jets for the second straight season in the playoff opener and set up the second consecutive meeting between the Oilers and Calgary. In 1983, the Oilers passed the Flames in five games, but '84 would be different. The Flames were able to split the first two games in Edmonton after Carey Wilson's goal at 3:42 in overtime gave Calgary a 6-5 win in Game 2. The Oilers had a chance to close out the series back home in Game 5, but the Flames pulled out two more victories to force a Game 7 – a 5-4 win thanks to Mike Eaves and a 5-4 overtime win that was sealed by Lanny McDonald's winner. The turnaround? The balanced scoring of the Oilers finally put the Flames out in Game 7. Maybe it was fitting there was a decisive game – Edmonton clinched the divisional series at home and nothing stood in the team's way after that. The Oilers swept the North Stars and ousted the four-time defending champion Islanders in five games for their first of five Stanley Cups over the next seven seasons. The MVP Mark Messier won the Conn Smythe Trophy that season as the playoff MVP, but it took the Oilers' top five to get over the Cup hump – Messier, Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson and of course, Gretzky. Joy Russo is a staff editor for ESPN.com Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories