GAME RECAP: Oilers vs. Flames (Preseason - Split-Squad)

EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers were defeated twice by their provincial rivals on Monday night, falling to the Calgary Flames 6-3 at Rogers Place and 6-1 at Scotiabank Saddledome in pre-season split-squad action.

In Edmonton, the Oilers recieved goals from defenceman Noel Hoefenmayer and veterans Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid, but the Flames had staked themselves to a 4-0 lead in the second period by the time Hyman managed to beat Calgary netminder Logan Cooley to make it a three-goal game.

"I thought there were some good things and some that we can clean up," Hyman said. "Anytime you get into preseason, the rhythm is always off. It's a little different. I thought as the game went on, we got better as a group."

The Flames shot-stopper had a strong night in Oil Country by making 44 saves, including a couple spectacular efforts over the full 60 minutes to keep the Oilers from mounting any comeback in the final frame. Calgary forwards Jonathan Huberdeau, Justin Kirkland and Samuel Honzek each had three points, while Matt Coronato scored twice and Anthony Mantha contributed a goal and assist in Edmonton's defeat.

Down in Calgary, the Oilers didn't fare much better despite professional try-out winger Mike Hoffman getting the Blue & Orange on the board with a power-play goal at 7:55 of the opening period to put them up 1-0. The Flames went on to score six unanswered, tallying a power-play goal through Connor Zary, who scored twice and added an assist, and a short-handed marker from Yegor Sharangovich, who added two goals in the victory.

Winger Viktor Arvidsson and defenceman Ben Gleason produced solitary assists on Hoffman's lone goal for the Oilers in Calgary.

"Trying to work through it," McDavid said. "I thought the legs got better and better as the game went on. I think it's more the battling and stuff that you're just not used to. You could skate up and down the rink all day, but it's just the battling at that level that is tough. But obviously, not good enough all around and lots to work on."

The Blue & Orange continue their pre-season schedule on Wednesday at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg against the Jets, with the game being streamed live on Oilers+ at 6:00pm MT.

FIRST PERIOD

Edmonton

The Flames struck first in Oil Country seven minutes into the opening period on a rebound that was cashed in by defenceman Jan Kuznetsov, who joined the rush and buried a rebound on the third try after Martin Pospisil forced netminder Calvin Pickard into making to two big saves from the slot.

Noah Philp and Corey Perry combined for Edmonton's best chance of the opening 20 minutes off a Calgary turnover in their own zone that allowed the centre to unleash a snap shot that was blockered down by Devin Cooley. Despite Perry scraping his follow-up shot from outside the blue paint, Cooley denied the veteran forward with a miraculous save that preserved the Flames' one-goal lead.

Calgary doubled their lead before the intermission, completing a slick exchange between Jonathan Huberdeau and Anthony Mantha on an odd-man rush that stretched Pickard out of position and left Mantha with an easy tap-in at the left post. Head Coach Kris Knoblauch picked out a turnover in the offensive zone that led to Calgary's rush up ice on the 3-0 goal as one of the many pre-season errors that they'll have to clean up before games start to mean a whole lot more in the standings.

"I thought we had the puck a little more, but just made more mistakes – especially in the offensive zone where we turned the puck over, leading to odd-man rush for them," the head coach said. "I think there were too many mistakes that you can't have later on in the year in the regular season when the games are important. It's exhibition. You're trying to learn and get those out of your system.

"There were good things about tonight's game, but there were too many mistakes that left our goalie exposed without the support they needed – especially Picks early on."

Calgary

Meanwhile in Cowtown, the Oilers had something cooking in the first period beginning with a power play drawn by off-season signing Viktor Arvidsson, who looked sharp in his pre-season debut with the Blue & Orange and had the best chance for Edmonton at opening the scoring in the early going.

Arvidsson drew the trip near the Flames' blueline and delivered a sublte deflection in front off a low wrist shot during the power play, forcing netminder Dan Vladar to come up with the reaction save by getting the pad to the Swedish forward's sneaky redirection.

Drake Caggiula continued his strong Camp in Calgary with a first-period rush that drew a hooking penalty that resulted in Edmonton's go-ahead goal at 7:55 of the opening frame. Ben Gleason linked up with Mike Hoffman, who levelled a one-timer from the left circle that beat Vladar clean to the far post for the 1-0 advantage.

Arvidsson collected the second helper, but the lead was enjoyed by the Oilers for only 47 seconds.

The Flames equalized off a fortunate bounce on a missed shot from defenceman Mackenzie Weegar at the blueline, seeing his shot bounce off the boards behind the Oilers' net and fall right onto the tape of Nazem Kadri to make it 1-1 before the midway mark of the opening frame.

SECOND PERIOD

Edmonton

The Flames took command in the middle frame of Monday's tilt at Rogers Place despite some early chances for the Oilers from some of their young standouts so far in Camp.

Vasily Podkolzin nearly made the Flames pay for a careless turnover in their own zone, but the Russian's wide-open look from the slot was parried away by the right shoulder of Cooley to keep it 2-0 for Calgary early in the first.

Philp produced another scoring chance with a sweet backhand feed from the left side that found the twig of Raphael Lavoie in front, but last season's leading goalscorer for the AHL's Bakersfield Condors couldn't beat the resilient Cooley, who was have putting together a strong performance in between the pipes in Edmonton.

"Another strong game from [Philp]," Knoblauch said. "He wasn't as dominant on faceoffs as he was the previous night, but he made some plays. I thought he managed the puck really well. For a guy that's just getting started and hasn't played very much lately, there's a lot to like about his game."

Alongside Philp and elite company in Leon Draisaitl on Monday night, Lavoie looked a real force offensively by showing off his wicked rease on a number of scoring chances that were set-up by the man who signed an eight-year, $14.5 million AAV extension in Edmonton this summer.

The Chambly, QC product also picked up a goal in Sunday night's 3-2 overtime win against the Jets.

"I thought he played really well. He had a lot of good shots," Knoblauch said of Lavoie. "He could've had a couple of goals, but the goalie made some really key saves on him. But I thought he played really well. That's two games where he's been involved in the offence and made some plays."

Calgary took advantage of their netminder's composure and scored three goals over the final 13 minutes of the second period – first on a power-play point shot from defenceman Rasmus Andersson that struck the right post and crossed the line behind Pickard for the 3-0 advantage.

Forward Matt Coronato then managed to sneak in a wrist shot under the right arm of Pickard 1:01 later to put the Flames up by a four-spot.

Pickard's night ended at the period's midway mark with a final stat line of 11 saves on 15 shots before goaltender Brett Brochu came in for Oilers to tend the twine for the second half, making four saves before the intermission. But the Oilers found some life ahead of the break on a classic set-up by Connor McDavid to Zach Hyman coming into the offensive zone.

The Oilers captain floated a saucer pass into the middle for the streaking Hyman, who placed his shot over the stretched-out Cooley before crashing head first into the Calgary net in classic Hyman style.

The Flames led 4-1 through 40 minutes in Edmonton, while things weren't going much better for the Blue & Orange up Highway 2.

Calgary

The connection between Connor Zary and Mikael Backlund for the Flames was causing headaches for the Oilers in Calgary, contributing to a 5-1 lead for the hosts at Scotiabank Saddledome through two periods.

Backlund sauced a pass to Zary just past the five-minute mark of the middle stanza for a deflection inside the right post beyond Rodrigue that sparked a three-goal stretch for the Flames to finish the period. Zary netted his second of the match with a snap shot during five-on-four almost three minutes later after the Oilers began to run into penalty trouble with back-to-back penalties, including 22 seconds down five-on-three.

Arvidsson ripped a shot wide on a clear-cut breakaway for Edmonton's best chance at pulling a goal back, but after Backlund had another back-door feed to Zary stopped later in the period, it was Daniil Miromanov who snapped the ensuing rebound past Rodrigue for the 4-1 lead.

Before the intermission, defenceman Josh Brown was responsible for a turnover below the Oilers goal line that contributed to Kadri finding Yegor Sharangovich wide open in front of the crease for a snap shot that solved Rodrigue for the fifth time on Monday.

Trailing 5-1 through 40 mintues in Calgary, netminder Nathan Day would come out after the second intermission to play the final period after Rodrigue finished his pre-season shift with 20 saves on 25 shots.

THIRD PERIOD

Edmonton

The Oilers made it interesting, but Cooley remained as cool as he could be.

Edmonton started the final frame in Oil Country with a bit of luck on a pass from defenceman Noel Hoefenmayer from the right circle that struck the shin pad of Joni Jurmo in front of the crease and crossed the line to provide a spark to the bench with 19 mintues still remaining to make the most of Monday's pre-season contest.

Coronato got it back only 32 seconds later off a Flames' zone entry that saw of his linemates Samuel Honzek and Justin Kirkland touch the puck before it popped out to the right winger on the right side for a wrist shot that beat Brochu at the far post.

Kirkland continued his strong offensive night for the Flames by scoring 3:44 later on a rebound off the initial shot from Walker Duehr, rounding out his stat line on the night with a goal and two assists. Rebound control appeared to be an issue for the Oilers' goalies in Edmonton, but Coach Knoblauch referenced some of the defensive mistakes that contributed to a few too many second and third chances for the Flames.

"One of them started 200 feet away in the offensive zone. They had a defenceman getting involved in the play and somebody has to cover for him. You've got to back off a little bit, so that led to a two-on-one goal," Knoblauch said.

"Another one was just responsibilities coming into the zone. I think a lot of it had to do with the defence not denying the blue line, allowing them to carry the puck in. And once you allow them into the zone, then they're able to make some plays. A little bit of it was being fortunate where the rebound goes. Sometimes the rebound goes off in the corner somewhere where it's not an issue, but we should have had somebody in those locations."

When Edmonton did get on the power play for only the second time in the contest at 12:05 of the final frame, their star-studded power play led by their captain went to work and inevitable scored after McDavid endtered the Flames zone and ripped a wrist shot low glove to solve Cooley and make it a 6-3 scoreline.

On another power play almost three-and-a-half minutes later, Cooley would make another incredible save against the captain to firmly entrench himself as the game's First Star with 44 total saves on 47 shots in the victory.

Calgary

Despite two third-period power plays, the Oilers conceded a sixth and short-handed marker to the Flames after letting Sharangovich skate through the neutral zone and walk over the blueline before beating Day with his wicked release to cap off the 6-1 victory.