GAME STORY: Flames Rookies 4, Oilers Rookies 1

CALGARY, AB - Raphael Lavoie opened the scoring on the power play in the first period, but Martin Pospisil's two-goal game helped the Calgary Rookies split the two-game Battle of Alberta series between the rivals in a 4-1 victory on Monday over the Oilers Rookies at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

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FIRST BLOOD

Edmonton struck first on the 5-on-3 man advantage just under 12 minutes into the contest, with the French Canadian connection of Raphael Lavoie and Xavier Bourgault orchestrating the opening goal. Forward Tyler Tullio, operating low from the left of Flames netminder Dustin Wolf, fed the puck to Bourgault, who sent a quick cross-ice feed to Lavoie in the left circle that was finished routinely into a gaping Calgary et.
It was the first points of Rookie Camp for the pair of forwards after being held off the scoresheet in the reverse fixture at Rogers Place this past Saturday.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Calgary's first power-play of the night returned similar results with similar quality to that of the Oilers. Four minutes after Lavoie opened the scoring, Pospisil was on the end of a tic-tac-toe passing play in front of Oilers goaltender Ilya Konovalov, with the forward tapping his goal into an open cage after the Russian was drawn out of position.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Konovalov looked sharp in his debut, showing his lateral movement in the first period stopping a cross-ice one-timer with a quick left-pad save nine-and-a-half minutes into the game. The Oilers crease protector could only lament on the night what was a well-constructed Flames power-play goal and Pospisil's well-placed shot over his blocker in the second period.

TURNING POINT

Ryan Francis went top shelf over Konovalov's blocker just under three minutes into the second period, tallying the game-winning goal and giving Calgary the one-goal lead and the Flames centre his second goal in as many games during this two-game Battle of Alberta between the rival crops of prospects.

TOP PERFORMER

Pospisil added an empty-netter late in the contest to put the game out of reach, but the Flames forward was active and tenacious all game, recording two goals on the night to help sink the Oilers to defeat.

PARTING WORDS

Defenceman Filip Berglund on Rookie Camp's progression and his performance over the two games and in practices:
"I think it was pretty good," he said. "The first game was better than this game, but overall I felt pretty good. I'm enjoying my time here. I've been here for about three or four weeks now, so overall it's been a great trip."
Berglund on first in-game impressions of goaltender Ilya Konovalov:
"He looked great. He's not very big, but he's really quick. He made a lot of big saves, so I think he's going to be great."

Head Coach Jay Woodcroft on Konovalov play and the rest of his rookie squad:
"I thought Ilya gave us a chance to win the game," he said. "It was a 2-1 hockey game. They scored a couple of empty-net goals, but we were right there. We certainly weren't perfect. I thought we were the better team in the first period drawing some penalties and scoring a power-play goal. I thought they were the better team in the second period, and we did some better things in the third. We came up short today, but it's not from a lack of effort or a lack of try on anybody's part. Ilya did give us a chance to win the game, especially in the second period."
"The other thing to keep in mind is that these have been hard days for these young men. It's supposed to be hard, but unfortunately, we couldn't find that equalizing goal. It doesn't say anything about the effort or try of these players. They gave us everything they had tonight."
Lavoie on comparisons between the two Rookie Camp games:
"There was some good and some bad," he said. "First games in a couple of months. It's nice to score, but unfortunately, we couldn't win this one... It was a 2-1 game until the end of it. Even if it might not have been going as well as we would've wanted it to, we're still there until the final minutes. I felt like we just needed to find a way to win, and we'll work on that."

Lavoie on grabbing a goal at Rookie Camp before the start of Main Camp on Wednesday:
"It was big," he said. "I had a couple of chances in the game before that that I couldn't put in the back of the net, so it was fun to do that before heading into Main Camp. We'll see how it goes and I'll try to do my best."
Lavoie on playing through the game's physicality and numerous penalties:
"It's tough when there's no flow to it," he said. There was penalties on both sides of the game, so guys weren't playing as much as they should. It's tough. It breaks the rhythm of the game."