GAME RECAP: Flames 4, Oilers 1

EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers dropped their third straight match to begin the 2024-25 NHL regular season after falling to the Calgary Flames 4-1 in the Battle of Alberta at Rogers Place on Sunday night.

"I'm sure there are lots of ways to explain it, but ultimately, it hasn't been good enough," Connor McDavid said. "I've said that numerous times here, up and down the lineup, that everybody can be better, and everybody will be better."

After winger Jeff Skinner scored his first in an Oilers uniform just 1:14 into the contest, the Blue & Orange had goals overturned in both the first and second periods before defenceman Rasmus Andersson scored unassisted with 7:30 gone in the middle frame to make it 1-1 heading into the final 20 minutes.

In the third period, the Flames scored twice in 2:21 through Anthony Mantha and Justin Kirkland to take a 3-1 lead and added an empty-netter in the last minute to continue Edmonton's provincial rivals' strong run to the regular season with a 3-0-0 record.

Edmonton killed off all three penalties they took on Sunday and went 0-for-1 with their only opportunity with the man advantage, while goaltender Stuart Skinner made 25 saves on 28 shots in the defeat.

The Oilers will try and get back to winning ways in the final game of their four-game homestand at Rogers Place against the Philadelphia Flyers.

"We're not quitters in here. We never have been," McDavid said. "Losing three in a row off the bat is not ideal, but nothing we can't work out of."

FIRST PERIOD

With a move to the top line next to Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman, winger Jeff Skinner only needed one shift to make the most of his opportunity and net his first goal in Blue & Orange.

Fresh off picking up his first assist as an Oiler on Saturday, Jeff Skinner evaded attention from Calgary's defence as he glided around Calgary's net and opened up at the bottom of the left circle, putting himself in position to react quickly to Mattias Ekholm's point shot that bounced right off the left pad of Dan Vladar and onto his stick to fire home his first goal in an Oilers uniform only 1:16 into the opening period.

Edmonton's off-season addition put his side up 1-0 with his first goal against the Flames since Oct. 19, 2017 when he was a member of the Carolina Hurricanes and now has five career goals and 12 career points against Calgary over 22 games since 2011.

The other Skinner between the pipes for Edmonton needed to make only five saves in the opening period, but needed to be sharp when Anthony Mantha had space on the right to come in and force the netminder into a blocker save that led to a second opportunity for the Flames that the visitors couldn't cash in.

Coach's challenges have been a common theme for the Oilers in their first three games, and a questionable overruling of Corey Perry's second goal of the season by the officials kept the score 1-0 through 20 minutes.

Perry placed the perfect deflection on defenceman Troy Stecher's point shot in front of Vladar, who pushed the puck to centre ice in admittance of defeat before being bailed out by a long review that deemed the veteran forward was inside the crease enough to prevent Vladar from getting his glove to it.

"I'm the wrong guy to ask about that. I don't understand the rule," Hyman said.

After that, the Oilers didn't appear to have the same focus offensively.

"I thought we played a good first half of the game and then obviously had a couple of goals disallowed, got distracted, we were just making mistakes out there," Hyman said. "I think everybody's not taking care of their own job, and obviously, that's the result you get."

"But there's no excuse," Hyman continued. "That happens all the time in games. You have to be able to just continue to play well, and we scored one goal so we could do a better job of getting to the net and scoring in the hard areas. When things aren't going easy, you have to be able to get to those areas to score."

Edmonton's frustrations increased before the break on a complete turn-face from the officials, who allowed Blake Coleman to whack Skinner in the back of the leg during a puck pursuit below the goal line that had the netminder feeling the effects of the slash before he counselled with the referees following the buzzer.

If Skinner's arguing the call, it's fair to say they got it wrong.

SECOND PERIOD

The Oilers were charged with three penalties in the second period to allow the Flames some extended zone time, but the power play wasn't responsible for the visitors tying the game on a smooth move from defenceman Rasmus Andersson seven-and-a-half minutes into the frame.

Edmonton's penalty killers turned away two opportunities for the Flames before Derek Ryan appeared to score an amazing goal, taking a feed from Jeff Skinner through the legs of a defenceman before he put it far side on Vladar while falling to the ice. But just as it did in the opening frame, the coach's challenge nullified the 37-year-old's incredible effort – this time for offside against Viktor Arvidsson near the Oilers bench.

The overturned call ended up costing the Oilers their lead just two minutes later when Andersson carried the puck up ice and over the blueline before cutting back into the slot and sending a wrist shot top shelf on Skinner, tying the game at 1-1 for the only scoring of the second frame with over half the Battle of Alberta left to play.

The Oilers registered only five shots in the middle period as the offence continued to try to find their connections early on in the season.

"The puck play's been bad all over," McDavid admitted. "Puck play has just been [poor] – guys fumbling it, guys not handling it, passes in the air, passes behind guys. It's just not good enough in terms of the puck play. When you're not clean with the puck, it's tough to generate offence."

THIRD PERIOD

After Connor Brown struck the far post on a short-handed steal just over a minute into the final frame, Calgary looked the more formidable threat and found a way to win their third game in a row, while the Oilers dropped to 0-3 to begin the year.

With the Oilers unable to clear their own zone near the 13-minute mark of the third period, Martin Pospisil put a puck on goal from the top of the circle Skinner pushed in front of him before Anthony Mantha whacked the puck over the netminder's left shoulder for the 2-1 advantage.

"You have to have guys in the right positions moving their feet, making the right passes and knowing who's where and when," Coach Knoblauch said. "Everything's just looking disconnected right now. Sometimes, a lot of those things are in line, but if you're missing one, then it just doesn't work out. Just moving the puck up together and generating a little more offence, everything's just not going as it should."

On another rebound that Skinner pushed into a dangerous area two-and-a-half minutes later, forward Justin Kirkland picked up the loose puck and threw a backhand into the yawning cage that would've made it a tie game if Edmonton's two earlier overturned goals had counted.

Jeff Skinner struck the crossbar with over five minutes to go for Edmonton's best chance at cutting into Calgary's lead before the Flames were able to ice the contest with an empty-netter from Connor Zary as time wound down on a 4-1 defeat for the Oilers.

The Oilers will host Philadelphia Fon Wednesday night before hitting the road for games against Nashville and Dallas.