The Calgary Flames rallied in the third to knock off the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 in a spirited edition of the Battle of Alberta.
The energy was evident from the opening moments of the game. Sam Bennett nailed Darnell Nurse with a big hit just over a minute in. Leon Draisaitl took a penalty for interference against Matthew Tkachuk at the 1:59 mark. With the Oilers shorthanded, Alex Chiasson chipped the puck by Mark Giordano, chased it down, cut in on net, and slid his seventh of the season under David Rittich.
“It’s a hockey game, it’s a tough battle these things happen,” said Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl. “Every loss stings, it was a big game for us and we couldn’t get the two points, that’s all that matters.”
With Draisaitl still in the box, Nurse went after Bennett, leading to fighting majors for both men. Later in the period, Connor McDavid and Mikael Backlund got tangled up, leading to a scrum involving all the skaters on the ice.
In the final minute of the frame, Zack Kassian went after Tkachuk. Kassian was hit with three two-minute roughing penalties and a ten-minute misconduct. Bennett took a roughing minor on the play.
“It was an emotionally charged game, playoff type atmosphere,” Oilers Head Coach Todd McLellan said after the game. “We had an opportunity to go ahead two or three times, that might have changed the game with those breakaways, but their goaltender played well.”
The Flames negated their power play in the second when Backlund took a high-sticking penalty. McDavid converted a pass from Draisaitl on a two-on-one on the ensuing power play to make it 2-0. Derek Ryan pulled the Flames within a goal with a power play goal late in the period. Elias Lindholm was in all alone while shorthanded not long after, but Mikko Koskinen made a glove save.
Sean Monahan ripped home a rebound to make it 2-2 2:40 into the third. Elias Lindholm flipped in a rebound with 10:50 to go to put the Flames up for the first time. He added an empty netter in the final minute.
The Flames are 6-7-1 when trailing after two periods. They outshot the Oilers 18-5 in the third and 37-26 for the game.
The Oilers, 9-9-1, will host Vegas on Sunday. Catch the Face-off Show on 630 CHED at 4:30 p.m. The game starts at 6 p.m.
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