Kadri scores in four-goal first period, helps Flames hold off Oilers

EDMONTON --Nazem Kadri scored his first goal for the Calgary Flames in a 4-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Saturday.

Kadri, who also had an assist, extended the lead to 3-1 at 7:41 of the first period after Oilers defenseman Brett Kulak fell at Edmonton's blue line, allowing him to break in all alone on the power play.
"I just tried to skate faster [when Kulak fell down]," Kadri said. "That's kind of what happened. I saw he was going down and I just tried to put on the jets, and luckily came out with a chance and was able to finish."

Michael Stone had a goal and two assists, Andrew Mangiapane scored, and Dan Vladar made 26 saves for Calgary (2-0-0).
"I think guys were great today, they were blocking shots," Vladar said. "Obviously, when you get the 4-1 lead, it's way easier to play. You kind of don't want to give them the momentum of letting the second one or the third one [in]. I did, but it wasn't the plan, obviously. I'm just literally trying to do my best."
Connor McDavid scored his fourth goal of the season, and Leon Draisaitl had two assists for Edmonton (1-1-0), which also fell behind 3-0 to the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday before rallying for a 5-3 win.
"We're putting ourselves behind in games, and obviously that's not our plan heading into a game," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. "The response in the second and third was better, but when you put yourself down the way we did, it's too big a hill to climb after being down to that team 4-1."
Jack Campbell allowed four goals on 11 shots before being pulled 10:18 into the first period. Stuart Skinner made 31 saves in relief.
"You look at some of the goals that went in, I thought around our net we were not near as assertive or hard the way we normally can play," Woodcroft said. "They did a good job of getting to our net, and we can do a better job of preventing them from getting there."
Mikael Backlund gave the Flames a 1-0 lead at 1:13 of the first period, scoring on a rebound.
Cody Ceci tied it 1-1 at 3:18 from the high slot, but Stone put Calgary back in front 2-1 at 4:34 on a slap shot off a face-off.
After Kadri extended the lead, Mangiapane made it 4-1 at 10:18, cleaning up a loose puck in the crease.
"I thought we played a really strong game," Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. "In the second period, you knew they were going to come with a push, and they did early. … I thought for the most part we did a pretty good job."

McDavid cut the lead to 4-2 at 10:46 of the second period on the power play, scoring off a cross-crease backhand pass from Evander Kane.
Ryan McLeod made it 4-3 at 14:54 when he converted a centering pass by defenseman Ryan Murray.
"The first period was good. We came out with a lot of energy and did some good things," Stone said. "We kind of got back on our heels a little bit in the second, but we managed to turn it back around in the third and finished off the game well, which was good to see. We didn't panic. We know what it takes to win and what little things need to be done to win in this League."
Vladar made eight saves in the third period, including a save with the shaft of his stick on a backhand attempt from Draisaitl in the low slot with 11 seconds remaining.
"We had a couple of whacks at the end. We were hoping one of those squeaks through, but it wasn't meant to be," Draisaitl said. "Just individual and system mistakes, they're little mistakes that are easy to clean up.
"We can't spot a team three goals in back-to-back nights, though. That's something we have to address, obviously."
NOTES:Oilers forward Kailer Yamamoto had an assist, one shot on goal, one hit and one blocked shot in 14:35 of ice time after missing the first game of the season with an upper-body injury. … Edmonton forward Warren Foegele had two shots on goal and two hits in 11:35 after missing the first game of the season with an undisclosed injury. … Murray's assist was his first point with the Oilers since signing a one-year contract Sept. 2. … Flames forward Kevin Rooney had an assist for his first point with the team since signing a two-year contract July 13. … Stone's three-point game was his first in the NHL (506th game). The defenseman signed a one-year contract on Oct. 11 after attending training camp on a professional tryout agreement.