Flames rally past Oilers in third period

CALGARY --David Rittich made 24 saves, and Elias Lindholm scored twice in the third period to help the Calgary Flames rally for a 4-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday.

Sean Monahan had a goal and an assist, and Derek Ryan scored for Calgary (11-8-1), which had lost two straight and three of four.
"It was a tough game," Lindholm said. "Edmonton played good, so it made it hard for us. You know, the most important (thing) is we got the two points out of this. It was big for us."
WATCH: [All Oilers vs. Flames highlights]
Connor McDavid and Alex Chiasson scored, and Mikko Koskinen made 33 saves for Edmonton (9-9-1), which has lost five of its past six games.
"They're a really good comeback team and we knew that," Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson said. "Today it was just those little things that we didn't do in the third that you have to do to win. It's as simple as that."

Monahan tied it 2-2 at 2:40 of the third period on a rebound in the slot off Travis Hamonic's initial shot. Lindholm got the rebound of his own shot at the top of the crease and beat Koskinen under his arm to give the Flames a 3-2 lead at 9:10.
Lindholm scored into an empty net at 19:18 to make it 4-2.
"It's been off for a couple games here," said Lindholm, who hadn't scored in his previous five games. "We haven't played great. It's good for us to get some goals and get the feel of how to score a goal."
Calgary leads the NHL with 32 goals in the third period and six wins when trailing after two periods.
"For now, it works to be down in the third, but we just talk before the third to give it all and play better," Lindholm said. "A lot of times we play unreal in the third, but you don't want to chase the game too much. It's not going to work all the time to be down before the third. It' something we need to work on."

Chiasson scored a shorthanded goal to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 2:29 of the first period.
Rittich stopped Leon Draisaitl on a breakaway at 12:13, and again on a shorthanded breakaway at 1:18 of the second period.
"If we capitalize on those chances, it's a different game," Draisaitl said. "We didn't and that's it."
McDavid extended the lead to 2-0 at 3:49 of the second after taking a pass from Draisaitl on a 2-on-1 and scoring on a one-timer on the power play. McDavid has 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in his past 13 games, and has at least one point in 16 of 19 games this season.

Ryan cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 16:23 that came 1:04 after Rittich stopped Jujhar Khaira on a shorthanded breakaway.
"When its coming in on me, it's something with a couple swear words, kind of like that," Rittich said. "When it's the other way, it's a great feeling because if you get a power play you want to play in their zone."

They said it

"It kind of is, but it's not a good habit. I think tonight was one of those games where we gave up two quality chances there in times where we shouldn't have, and we came back there and generated a lot of looks. A lot of guys stepped up tonight. We got our chances in the third and we capitalized." -- Flames forward Sean Monahan
"We had a chance when we were up 2-0, we had a breakaway I thought we were going to bury. Probably the next shift, they scored and they were right back in the game." -- Oilers goaltender Mikko Koskinen

Need to know

Rittich is 6-1-0 with a 1.92 goals-against average and .933 save percentage. … McDavid is two goals from 100 in the NHL. … Gaudreau had an assist after being held without a point in his previous four games. … Oilers forward Ryan Spooner, who was acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers for forward Ryan Strome, was minus-2 in 10:35 of ice time in his Edmonton debut. … Oilers forward Patrick Russell had two hits in 8:37 in his NHL debut.

What's next

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; SN, TVAS, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)
Flames: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)