Todd McLellan won his 400th game as an NHL head coach Saturday night with his Edmonton Oilers holding off the Flames 7-5 in Calgary.
McLellan, who had 311 of his wins with the San Jose Sharks, becomes the 38th NHL bench boss to hit the 400-win plateau.
For the first time in nine games, the Oilers scored first. Drake Caggiula shot wide from the slot, but Jesse Puljujarvi found the rebound off the back boards and chipped it behind Mike Smith. Puljujarvi scored again four minutes later when Eric Gryba’s point shot deflected in off his leg. The Flames responded with a shorthanded goal from Michael Frolik, but the Oilers came right back just after that power play expired. Jujhar Khaira fired a shot from the slot and beat Smith to make it 3-1 Oilers.
Early in the second period, Mark Letestu broke in a shorthanded breakaway and snapped a shot past Smith’s glove to make it 4-1. Caggiula and Leon Draisaitl also had breakaways in the period, but Smith made the saves. With 21.2 seconds left in the session, Milan Lucic tipped home Gryba’s point shot to make it 5-1.
“It’s nice to get a lot of offence tonight,” said Mark Letestu. “We’d like to tighten it up a bit. It was a little stressful at the end, but we’re not going to gripe about winning hockey games.”
Smith, who made 22 saves on 27 shots, was replaced by David Rittich to start the third. Just 89 seconds into the frame, Rittich stopped the puck behind the net. Patrick Maroon beat the Flames defence to the puck and tucked it in before Rittich could get back in position.
The Flames then mounted a furious charge, scoring four goals in 7:16 to pull within 6-5 with 7:40 left. They went on a power play with six minutes left, but the Oilers were able to kill it off. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins iced with with 1:01 left when his centring pass deflected in off T.J. Brodie’s stick.
“I saw them score too many goals, it’s as simple as that,” said head coach Todd McLellan. “How did it happen? I think our goaltender would like to have a few of them back. But anytime you’re saying that—usually you’re coming out on the losing end. Fortunately for us, we came out with a win.”
The Oilers have won six straight games against the Flames for the third time in franchise history. The two teams will play three more times this season.
The Oilers improve to 11-14-2 on the season. They’ll host Philadelphia on Wednesday.
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