Mike Smith made 20 saves to run his record to 4-0 as the Edmonton Oilers downed the Calgary Flames 2-1 Friday night.
The Oilers have won eight of their last 10.
Jesse Puljujarvi scored the only goal of the first period before the game was six minutes old, taking a pass in front from Tyson Barrie and beating David Rittich.
“He gets himself in a scoring position and they start going in for him,” Oilers head coach Dave Tippett said of Puljujarvi after the game. “He’s a really good player and a dangerous player, but he’s a successful dangerous player when they go in for him.”
Gaetan Haas chipped in his first of the season late in the second period. Rasmus Andersson came back 45 seconds later to cut the Oilers lead to 2-1.
“I thought Haas’s line from the get-go just dominated the play,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “We got rewarded with one in the second period, and that was huge for us, and we just carried that on for the rest of the game.”
Leon Draisaitl looked to make it 3-1 early in the third, but Rittich dove to his right and made a desperate blocker save. The Flames had only five shots on goal in the third and the Oilers hung on for the 2-1 win.
The Oilers, 11-8, will host the Flames, 8-8-1, Saturday night. Coverage starts on 630 CHED with the Face-off Show at 6:30 p.m. The game starts at 8 p.m.
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