Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists for the Edmonton Oilers in a 4-2 win over the host Calgary Flames on Sunday.
“Very similar to the first game in Edmonton,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We came out strong in the first period and then as the game wore on I thought Calgary had a lot of opportunities, a lot of push. We hung in there — a key penalty-kill at the end of the game, some blocked shots; especially Rico there at the end. Fortunately, our power-play came through and gave us the winning goal, but I thought we took our foot off the gas.”
Zach Hyman, Jeff Skinner and Mattias Janmark, with the empty-netter, scored for the Oilers (6-5-1), who won their fourth game in their last five and their second straight since captain and NHL star Connor McDavid was sidelined with an ankle injury.
Edmonton’s goalie Stuart Skinner stopped 29 shots for the win.
“It felt fantastic, especially being able to get the win,” Skinner said. “Obviously they put a ton of pressure on us at the end and Rico came up with a massive block to keep things easy on me.”
Anthony Mantha and Yegor Sharangovich scored for Calgary (6-5-1) in front of an announced sellout of 19,289 at the Saddledome.
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Calgary goaltender Dan Vladar had 27 saves in his second straight start, which marked the first time this season he or teammate Dustin Wolf played two in a row
Draisaitl lifted a backhand shot over Vladar’s glove just 20 seconds after the opening faceoff. Skinner made it 2-0 for the visitors at 8:12 on a second effort after tucking the puck by Vladar’s outstretched skate.
Mantha redirecting a Tyson Barrie shot by Skinner at 4:33 of the second period was confirmed a power-play goal after review for a possible high stick. Calgary’s Sharangovich drew the hosts even with a shot through traffic that beat Skinner’s glove at 4:28 of the third period.
Hyman scored on the second of three Edmonton power-play chances in the third period with a backhand shot over Vladar at 10:10.
“I think first and foremost Stu played great, I think he gave us a chance to win,” Hyman said. “Made some huge saves — key saves — at the right times. So that was first and foremost and I thought it was an overall good team effort.”
Edmonton’s lone game at the Saddledome this season was minus McDavid, who is expected back in the Oilers’ lineup later this month.
The Oilers tied the NHL’s Battle of Alberta 1-1 this season with one game remaining March 29 between the provincial rivals. Calgary won 4-1 in Edmonton on Oct. 13.
TAKEAWAYS
Flames: Couldn’t handle the Oilers’ speed and were down two goals early before generating any sustained offensive-zone pressure. Put more rubber on net and produced more scoring chances in second and third periods.
Oilers: Pursued the puck with more pace than Calgary in the first 10 minutes, blocked more shots in the first period and were rewarded with a 2-0 lead. Edmonton’s power play that’s been slow to get going this season produced the game-winner from Hyman.
KEY MOMENT
Calgary’s too-many-men penalty with 2:18 remaining hurt the Flames’ chances of sending the game to overtime.
KEY STAT
Leon Draisaitl has five goals and three assists in four straight road games, and two goals and four assists in two games since McDavid was injured. Draisaitl has averaged a point per game in 56 career games without McDavid since the latter was drafted first overall by Edmonton in 2015.
UP NEXT
Oilers: Play the second game of a back-to-back Monday at home against the New Jersey Devils.
Flames: Start a three-game road trip Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens.
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