GAME RECAP: Flames 4, Oilers 3

EDMONTON, AB - The Oilers were hoping for shades of May, but it just wasn't to be on Saturday night as Calgary escaped the Battle of Alberta with a 4-3 win.
Much like their playoff series last spring, the Oilers fell behind to the Flames early, trailing 4-1 just over 10 minutes into the game. Edmonton battled back to bring the game within a goal, but couldn't muster the completed comeback.
"It's tough to comeback every single night, that's something we definitely have to address," Cody Ceci said. "It seems like once we get going we're a good team, but we can't play from behind every single night."
It was the goaltending performance of Stuart Skinner that stole the show on the night, with the Oilers netminder turning aside every Flames shot he faced in relief of the game's starting goaltender Jack Campbell.
Edmonton will be back in action on Tuesday night when they welcome the Buffalo Sabres to Rogers Place for a 7:00 p.m. contest.

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FIRST BLOOD

A broken play lead to the Flames lighting up the scoreboard first. Just 1:13 into the game, Flames defenceman Michael Stone floated a low shot towards Jack Campbell which richocheted off the sticks of a couple Oilers defenders and onto the waiting blade of Mikael Backlund. The long time Flame quickly slid the rebound through the legs of Campbell to break the early 0-0 deadlock.

GOALS GALORE

Oilers fans wouldn't have to wait long for a response from the home side.
Kailer Yamamoto, who was making his season debut after missing the season opener with an injury, took control of the puck to the left of Dan Vladar and dropped a pass to Cody Ceci at the point. The defender was afforded a tonne of space to walk in and rip a low, uncontested shot by the glove of Vladar for his first of the season at the 16:42 mark of the first period.
The tie wouldn't last for long however, just 1:16 later off a faceoff in the Oilers zone, Michael Stone would find the puck and blast his trademark slapshit through a screen, off a post and behind the Oilers goaltender.
The Flames barrage continued throughout the first half of the opening frame.
First, defenceman Brett Kulak would blow a tire at the blueline allowing Nazem Kadri to be able come in on a partial break and tuck a cheeky forehand attempt through the legs of Campbell to make it 3-1 with 12:19 left in the first.

Kadri wouldn't be done on the night, once again winning with speed for an up close attempt on Campbell. The Edmonton goaltender would make the intial save, but Andrew Mangiapane would be 'Johnny on the spot' to jam home the rebound past the sprawling Oilers goaltender, giving Calgary a 4-1 lead just over 10 minutes into the game.

SECOND PERIOD SURGE

After a first to forget, the Oilers had a second to savour.
The Oilers came out flying to start the frame, with the line of Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Evander Kane wreaking havoc in the Flames offensive zone. Calgary and Vladar were able to hold back the onslaught for a little while, but midway through the frame the dam burst.
With Blake Coleman in the box for hooking, the Oilers potent powerplay would help the home team find their way back into the game. It would be the big guns with the quick tic-tac-goal play, with Draisaitl finding Kane at the side of the Flames net -- a quick backhand feed across the crease later and the lamp was lit by McDavid for the Oilers Captain's fourth goal of the season.
Just over four-minutes later, the Oilers would tickle the twine once more. Defenceman Ryan Murray would pinch in low behind the Flames net before backhanding a reverse feed to Ryan McLeod who buried it far side on Dan Vladar to bring the game within one.
The Flames would finish the period with a 11-10 shot advantage, but the gulf in quality was well in favour of the Oilers who tidied up their game in the defensive zone in the middle frame. Unfortunately, those would be the last goals scored in the game as the Flames ratcheted up the defence in the final period.

STU-PENDOUS PERFORMANCE

The Battle of Alberta debut for starter Jack Campbell would only last 10:18.
The Flames goal barrage, aided by less than stellar defensive effort would lead to four quick goals on 11 shots against the Oilers netminder, sending him to the bench in exchange for Stuart Skinner.
Skinner would lead the Oilers lock down for the rest of the game, stonewalling the Flames on all 31 shots he faced on the evening. The goaltending switcheroo was the momentum boost that Head Coach Jay Woodcroft was looking for.
"None of (the goals) are his fault at all. It was more of a thing to wake us up to get Skinner in there," Ceci said. "(Stuart) played great for us, but we kind of left Soup out to dry. I feel bad for him because he's such a great guy and he's playing great for us."
Skinner looked calm between the pipes as the Oilers put forth a much more consistent defensive effort in front of him. The 23-year-old was especially massive on a Flames third period powerplay, robbing Mangiapane, Tyler Toffoli, and Elias Lindholm twice on grade-A opportunities. Despite Skinner's incredible performance, the Oilers were unable to reward his effort with a win.

ROLLING STONE

Despite all the offensive firepower available to the Flames, it was defencman Michael Stone who lead the way for the Southern Alberta team.
The 32-year-old who began training camp on a PTO notched a goal and two assists in his 12:30 of ice time. Stone has been a long time fixture as a rotational defender for the Flames. The Winnipeg, MB native has played parts of seven season in Calgary, but has only surpassed 33 games played once in his career.
His first period goal showed off his trademark bomb of a slapshot that has helped maintain his status as a valuable NHL asset.

PARTING WORDS

Leon Draisaitl on Jack Campbell's night:
"That's on us. That has nothing to do with him. He was amazing the other night, this is 100 per cent on us, it had nothing to do with him."
Cody Ceci on trying to start quicker:
"Coming into the game that was a focus of ours and we kind of failed at it. We need to figure it out for next game, whatever it may be. It's a number of things, it's always different every single game, it's tough to point out one thing, but we have to come out stronger especially at home."
Ceci on if it's the first period that the Oilers are struggling to get started:
"It's tough to put a time on it, but we're definitely coming out a little flat, seeing what other teams got instead of showing them what we have. We have so much skill and so much offence if we pour it on teams early it will put them on their heels a little bit. That's what we have to do."
Ceci on the Flames getting off to a quick start:
"They were definitely coming fast. They're a little different looking team than last year. They moved some pieces, but they picked up some good players. They're a quick team, they transition well, and they have good defencemen. They've come at us early on strong in the past and they did it again tonight."

Ceci on if Yamamoto was trying to hit him on the assist on his goal:
"I'm not sure, I'll have to ask him. It kind of just popped out to me and I was in the slot and just shot it right away."
Head Coach Jay Woodcroft on the play of Stuart Skinner:
"I thought he was a real bright spot for us tonight and he's got to feel good about himself and giving his team a chance to win. I thought he made some big saves, especially on the penalty kill. He should feel really good about his game right now heading into practice."
Woodcroft on the type of goals Calgary scored tonight:
"You look at some of the goals that went in. I thought around our net, we were not near as assertive or hard as the way we normally can play, so they did a good job of getting to our net and we can do a better job of preventing them from getting there. I thought on the second one, we lost a face-off. They came down and it was a seeing-eye puck that went in on a hard shot. The third one we fall down, then the fourth one, it was a little bit of a sloppy change, but I thought we could be harder around our blue paint. So for me, there's a lot of stuff to work on here. We should have a captive audience when we get back to practicing because we haven't started the way we've wanted to in the last two games, that's for sure."