Patty O's Big Night

Pat Quin and Tom Renney's debut behind the Oilers bench has come off perfectly, as the Oilers claimed a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames.

To be fair, the Flames regulars in the lineup were limited to Dustin Boyd, Jamie Lundmark, Kyle Greentree and David Moss. Meanwhile, the Oilers iced a lineup featuring Patrick O'Sullivan, Steve Staios, Shawn Horcoff, Mike Comrie, Zach Stortini, Tom Gilbert, Jason Strudwick and team captain Ethan Moreau. But every win in the Battle of Alberta counts.

In particular, Patrick O'Sullivan had a big night with two goals.

Tom Gilbert had a power play marked for the Oil and Shawn Horcoff finished the game with an empty netter.

Jason Jaffray responded for Calgary.

Mike Comrie had two assists, and Gilbert had a helper as well. Alex Plante, Robbie Schremp and Ryan Stone rounded out the other assists.

Mike Comrie seemed to have winning back Oilers finds on his mind as he worked hard, produced several scoring opportunities (and arguably scored one of O'Sullivan's goals).

If the Oilers had any problems tonight, it was the number of penalties they took. Playing against a lineup of minor leaguers and third- and fourth-line players, the Oil had no business giving up seven power plays.

O'Sullivan's two goals tonight equal what he scored in 19 games with the Oilers last season.

Then again, hopefully Pat QUinn and Tom Renney will wait to see how O'Sullivan plays against more NHL regulars later in the preseason before committing to giving him a spot on the top line alongside Shawn Horcoff and Ales Hemsky.

Comrie to Re-debut in Cowtown

Oilers fans tuning into the webcast of tonight's preseason opener against the Calgary Flames -- streamed on the Oilers website for those not in the know -- may be disappointed at the absence of Nikolai Khabibulin in net.

But for those few who have awaited the return of Mike Comrie, tonight's game will certainly hold some interest. Comrie will centre Patrick O'Sullivan and Ryan Stone on the Oilers second line, just behind the top line combination of Shawn Horcoff, Robbie Schremp and Jean-Francois Jacques.

Comrie -- who has been wearing #91 in training camp after seemingly having wisely chosen not to fight Sam Gagner for #89 -- could even see some power play icetime with Robbie Schremp. Schremp is one of the players the Oilers selected with the draft picks they received for Comrie when they sent him off for some Cheesesteaks in Philadelphia.

Many, many eyes will be on Comrie to see if he picks up where he left off before the trade.