Flames Fall In Heritage Classic

EDMONTON - Nazem Kadri scored his first of the season, while A.J. Greer got his first as a Flame in a 5-2 loss to the Oilers at Commonwealth Stadium Sunday night.

Jacob Markstrom finished the night with 27 saves.

The Oilers got the first good chance of the tilt, Edmonton captain Connor McDavid - who returned after missing the last two games with an injury - getting the puck after a turnover and then driving wide around Chris Tanev and hard to the net, Markstrom making the save but many Oilers fans in the crowd, unable to see the puck, rising to cheer thinking it went in.

Not long after, Markstrom made another big stop on a cross-ice feed from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to Evander Kane right in tight.

Edmonton would eventually strike after a face-off win in the Flames zone, Markstrom kicking out his left pad to make an initial stop but Brett Kulak there on the backdoor side to shovel a backhand home at 4:19.

The Flames were unable to convert on 1:21 of a two-man advantage and the Oilers made it 2-0 soon after on a 2-on-1, Leon Draisaitl feeding the puck across to Zach Hyman who tipped it home at 9:38.

Kadri got the Flames back within one on their second two-man advantage of the opening stanza, skating across the blue paint and tipping MacKenzie Weegar's point shot home at 14:55, with Jonathan Huberdeau getting the other helper. The goal came with just one second left in the double man-up.

Evan Bouchard restored the two-goal cushion 1:11 later with a blast from the up near the blueline that beat a screened Markstrom high far-side over his shoulder.

Weegar's herculian effort just past the midway point of the second period led to Calgary's second goal.

The blueliner got a head a steam after a pass from Markstrom and cut between two Oilers on a rush into the Edmonton zone, getting a shot off with Hyman on his back, Skinner making the stop but Greer there to put the rebound into the back of the net late in a powerplay at 11:27.

Vincent Desharnais scored at 6:16 of the third period and Kane added a late empty-netter to round out the scoring.

The Lineup:

Trios and D-pairs to start the tilt:

Forwards:

Dryden Hunt - Elias Lindholm - Dillon Dube

Andrew Mangiapane - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman

Jonathan Huberdeau - Nazem Kadri - Matt Coronato

A.J. Greer - Yegor Sharangovich - Walker Duehr

Defencemen:

Noah Hanifin - MacKenzie Weegar

Ilya Solovyov - Chris Tanev

Nikita Zadorov - Dennis Gilbert

Goaltenders

Jacob Markstrom - starter

Dan Vladar

They Said It:

The Numbers Game:

Shots: CGY 31, EDM 27

Powerplay: CGY 1-6, EDM 0-2

FO%: CGY 45.3%, EDM 54.7%

Blocked Shots: CGY 11, EDM 13

Hits: CGY 23, EDM 30

Scoring Chances: CGY 12, EDM 28

High-Danger Scoring Chances: CGY 4, EDM 19

Up Next:

The Flames return to the Scotiabank Saddledome to host the Dallas Stars Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Click here for tickets