Jonathan Huberdeau and Morgan Frost had quality chances later in the period; Huberdeau’s wrist shot from the left circle zipped over top of the cross bar while at the buzzer, a sharp-angled effort from Frost was swallowed by Pickard.
At the other end, Flames netminder Dustin Wolf - making his Battle of Alberta debut - was forced into a pair of dangerous saves off the Oilers’ top line. First, he snagged a backhand effort from Vasily Podkolzin after he was sprung in free on a pass from Leon Draisaitl.
Wolf then stoned Draisaitl on a 2-on-1 rush in the final minute, staying true to the shooter and making a quick, right pad save.
Calgary’s fourth line kept up the pressure, and kept up the memo of crashing the Edmonton net, too. Kevin Rooney accepted a pass from linemate Adam Klapka in the low slot at the three-minute mark, forcing Pickard to make a quick stop.
Rooney returned the favour later in the period after Klapka airmailed a dump-in into the left corner. Rooney turned and centred to Klapka, who redirected the puck on goal, but Pickard got down just quickly enough to make a left pad stop and keep the Flames lead at one goal.
The hosts answered back through their top line, Viktor Arvidsson converting on a one-timer at 16:20.
Undaunted, the Flames came close to reclaiming the lead in the final minute. Mikael Backlund sprung Joel Farabee in alone from the Edmonton blue line, but Farabee was stopped not once, but twice by Pickard before a post-whistle fracas ensued in the Oilers zone, leading to a Calgary powerplay.
The third period was just as tense as the first two, both sides not giving much in terms of high-danger opportunities or sustained offensive pressure.
But the Flames found a breakthrough off the rush just shy of the eight-minute mark. Kadri carried the puck in on left wing, then spotted a trailing Pachal in the high slot. Pachal marked his return to the lineup with a picture-perfect shot on Pickard's glove side, sniping his third goal of the season to put the visitors back in front by a 2-1 scoreline.
