GAME RECAP: Oilers 2, Flames 1 (OT)

CALGARY, AB - For 57 minutes, it looked like the Edmonton Oilers might leave Scotiabank Saddledome empty-handed without a win and without a goal.

But anything can happen in the Battle of Alberta – even in the pre-season.

The Oilers came back in dramatic fashion to defeat the Calgary Flames 2-1 in exhibition action on Friday night, with Dylan Holloway and Brad Malone scoring the respective tying and overtime tallies in front of a solid Jack Campbell, who claimed the victory and First Star honours with 34 saves.

"He was unbelievable tonight," Holloway said of Campbell. "We don't win tonight unless Jack's on his game like he was, making incredible saves all night for us. He kept us in there and I'm glad he got the win."

Holloway, who had a phenomenal game for the Blue & Orange, equalized for Edmonton on the power play in the final three minutes of regulation before Yegor Sharangovich's last-gasp goal in the dying moments was overturned by the officials after the puck was deemed to have crossed the line after the final buzzer had blown.

"The confidence is feeling good," Holloway said. "I think just from a lot of preparation this summer, but at the same time too trying to get to know the system as best I can and just rely on my instincts and my teammates to help me out."

Brad Malone played the part of comeback hero, sliding the game-winning goal under Vladar at 2:24 of sudden-death overtime to secure Edmonton their second victory of the 2023-24 preseason after being set up by a terrific pass from Seth Griffith.

"Those two were on the ice for a reason," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. "It's because I've seen them in that position before and I've seen them deliver in that position before just as individuals. Griff's an All-Star at the American League level. He has NHL skills and when he competes like he did, he puts himself into the conversation. Brad Malone's obviously just a high-character person, high-capacity player.

"Both are usable players at our level, both are quality human beings, and when they're in your organization it makes for a stronger organization all the way."

The Oilers will be back on the road on Saturday when they face the Vancouver Canucks before heading across the border for a tune-up match with the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday.

FIRST PERIOD

The Soup was plenty hot after the first period of the netminder's pre-season debut.

Jack Campbell was busy in the Oilers crease in the opening frame, stopping all 12 of Calgary's shots while the Oilers offence in front of him struggled to muster only four attempts against Flames netminder Dan Vladar.

Campbell turned away seven of his shots coming in the opening seven minutes, with the netminder making his most meaningful contribution of the first frame on a 2-on-1 with Phil Kemp defending the pass in front of him. No. 36 denied Nazem Kadri twice on the odd-man rush and later bailed out Markus Niemelainen's giveaway in the left circle that set up a good scoring chance for Flames 2021 first-round pick Matt Coronato.

Edmonton's few offensive opportunities in the opening period came through forward Dylan Holloway, who showcased his strong skating on two separate chances.

Holloway won a foot race against Noah Hanifin near the midway mark of the period to earn a partial breakaway, but the young forward couldn't get a clean backhand away before the puck rolled off his stick and into the corner. Later on a partial 2-on-1 with Raphael Lavoie, Holloway put his body between the puck and the Flames defender as he drove to the net before taking a high shot that was stopped by Flames netminder Dan Vladar.

SECOND PERIOD

Ultimately, someone had to take the Soup off the burner.

Elias Lindholm was the one who finally beat Campbell to stifle his hot start to Friday's pre-season Battle of Alberta when defenceman Jeremie Poirier's point shot got a piece of the stick of the Flames centre as plenty of traffic blocking the netminder's view prevented Campbell from getting a glimpse of the redirection that found its way behind him to make it 1-0 Calgary at 12:55 of the second period.

The Oilers almost equalized things on a partial three-on-one just over two minutes after they conceded the opening goal when Holloway, who'd been Edmonton's best offensive player through the first 40 minutes, completed a give-and-go feed with Condors captain but couldn't complete the play at the right post of Vladar's goal.

Through 40 minutes, the Flames were doubling up the Oilers 24-12 on the shot clock.

THIRD PERIOD

The final three minutes of regulation certainly made up for a quiet first 57.

Still leading 1-0, newly-minted Flames captain Mikael Backlund looked to have made it a two-goal game, but the referees waved the playoff for goaltender interference. Feeling confident that there was an error in the officials' call, the Flames challenged but couldn't overturn the call, which meant Edmonton had a late power play to pull something back.

Then came the Hollywood heroics. Holloway was buzzing all night for the Blue & Orange, so it was fitting that the young winger would be the one to tie the game.

No. 55 let go a one-timer from the left circle that snuck through five-hole under Vladar with 1:40 on the clock, making it look like we were bound for overtime. In a wild finish to regulation, Yegor Sharangovich seemingly scored at the death as the buzzer blew, but the review by the officials confirmed that the puck crossed the line after time had expired.

"I just saw Foegey coming down the wall, and I saw a little gap kind of between the two defenders and then was calling for it," Holloway said. "To be honest, I was trying to go top shelf there but kind of just slid it on the ice and it worked out, so I'm glad that one went in."

Thanks to a crazy and eventful final three minutes, we were bound for overtime at Scotiabank Saddledome.

OVERTIME

"Twenty-four-out-of-ten," Campbell said of Malone's game-winning finish.

"Number 24, Brad 'Bugsy' Malone."

The Oilers were buzzing in extra time, and it was the biggest bug of them all in Brad 'Bugsy' Malone who iced the game in overtime on a sweet five-hole slide off an even-sweeter feed from Seth Griffith that crossed up Vladar and gave Edmonton the come-from-behind pre-season victory in the Battle of Alberta.

"That was a pretty exciting game for everybody," Campbell said. "And Bugsy, such a great guy and such a hard worker. it was great to see him finish it off there for the boys, so just really nice to get out there and get back in the action on an individual level."

PARTING WORDS

Coach Woodcroft on tonight's game:

"I thought it was very similar to what we've seen through the first four exhibition games and through all the practices in Training Camp. Our fellas are really digging in and embracing this idea of having a blue-collar work ethic, and you know, I think tonight we played four periods of hockey. I think that's the 15th period in four games that we've played, and realistically, there were about ten minutes in Winnipeg that we'd like to have back. So the fellas are digging in and working.

"Obviously, we had a younger lineup in tonight, got better as the night wore on, started to find ourselves more and more offensive chances, and that's why they play a full 60 minutes game – not a 60-minutes-and-one-second game."

Campbell on how he felt in his pre-season debut:

"Frankly, I was a little nervous. I put a lot of work in this summer and wanted to do well, and I was just really excited to go out and have a good performance and just keep building on the things I've been working so hard on.

"A good friend of mine told me that today [that nerves are a good thing] when I called him, so they definitely helped and it's just nice. The boys came out and battled the whole 63-and-a-half minutes or whatever it was, and found a way to get a nice 'W' in the Saddledome."

Holloway on the aspects of his game that come out when he's playing his best:

"I think just able to make some plays, use my teammates, shoot the puck, get some offence going, and then at the same time, too, I like to throw the body around a little bit and play good defensively, so I feel like that's the kind of game I want to play."