The Flames carried a one-goal lead into the third period Saturday night but the visiting Oilers would get a pair in the final frame en route to a 3-2 victory at the Scotiasbank Saddledome.
Video: Brendan Parker wraps up Saturday’s loss
The two teams are now squared up at a game apiece in this season’s edition of the Battle of Alberta. The Flames won the first game 4-3 back on Oct. 15 in Edmonton. The third installment goes Dec. 27 at the ‘Dome.
Mikael Backlund, Brett Ritchie scored for the homeside. It was their third goals of the season for both players.
The Flames heavily outshot the Oilers, finishing the night with a 42-26 edge. Jacob Markstrom made 23 stops, while Stuart Skinner had 40 at the other end of the ice.
The high-danger scoring chances favoured Calgary 14-7.
Calgary is now 5-2 on the season, while the Oilers improved to 6-3.
There were no goals in the first 20 minutes, but a handful of Grade-A chances for both sides.
Perhaps most impressive was the fact the Flames were forced to kill off two Edmonton powerplays before they got their first advantage with just over 30 seconds remaining in the period. They did an excellent job keeping the potent Oilers man-up off the board.
As the old saying goes, your goalie is your best penalty-killer and Markstrom made a stellar stop on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who snuck in backdoor and tried to convert a cross-ice pass from Connor McDavid, but No. 25 came across to make the stop and freeze the puck.
On the second Oilers PP, Tyler Toffoli tipped a pass and won a race for the puck for a breakaway but Skinner stood tall.
Backlund opened the scoring shorthanded at 4:29 on a breakaway, snapping the puck shortside over the left pad and under the glove of Skinner. The play started thanks to Elias Lindholm battling up near the blueline and smacking the puck out into the neutral zone.
Video: EDM@CGY: Backlund scores shorthanded goal in 2nd
And here’s another look in slo-mo:
Seconds after the ensuing faceoff, Backlund chipped the puck around Tyson Barrie for a partial breakaway, circling across the crease and electing to pass for a trailing Lindholm who couldn’t get a good shot off.
The Oilers came back the other way and Zach Hyman threw a puck on net (shot or pass for Leon Draisaitl who was camped in the blue paint?) that bounced past Markstrom at 5:02.
Milan Lucic fed a perfect pass from behind the net out to Kevin Rooney in the first period but he was unable to bury it. The big man battled behind the cage and put another gem out into the slot in the second and Ritchie, the recipient this time, made no mistake, putting it by Skinner at 15:06, with MacKenzie Weegar getting the other helper.
Video: EDM@CGY: Ritchie scores in 2nd period
Markstrom made another 10-beller on Nugent-Hopkins with less than three minutes in the period, stopping a one-timer with his blocker off a feed from McDavid on a rush.
McDavid later tied it up at 9:02 of the third period after Markstrom came out to try and play the puck behind his net but it was too quick and hopped along the dasher, heading towards the corner where the Oilers captain fired it towards the cage from a tough angle as the Calgary ‘tender got back between the pipes and it slipped past him.
Edmonton got the game-winner after a turnover in the Calgary zone, McDavid getting the puck and firing a backhander on net that went off Hyman and in at 12:24.
THEY SAID IT:
Video: Coach gives his thoughts on tonight’s tilt
Video: “We gotta be better as a team”
Video: “We can play better than that”
BY THE NUMBERS:
Shots: CGY 42, EDM 25
Powerplay: CGY 0-3, EDM 1-4
Hits: CGY 31, EDM 29
Face-offs: CGY 49%, EDM 51%
*Scoring chances: CGY 28, EDM 23
*High-danger scoring chances: CGY 14, EDM 7
*According of Natural Stat Trick (5-on-5)
THE LINEUP:
The trios and D pairs to start the tilt:
Forwards
Jonathan Huberdeau – Elias Lindholm – Tyler Toffoli
Dillon Dube – Mikael Backlund – Andrew Mangiapane
Blake Coleman – Mikael Backlund – Trevor Lewis
Milan Lucic – Kevin Rooney – Brett Ritchie
Pairings
MacKenzie Weegar – Christopher Tanev
Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson
Nikita Zadorov – Michael Stone
Goaltender
Jacob Markstrom- starter
Dan Vladar
UP NEXT:
The Flames host the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Click for tickets
This news is republished from another source. You can check the original article here