GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Flames 2

The Oilers exact revenge against the Flames on Sunday night for their defeat earlier this season with a 4-2 victory in the Battle of Alberta at Scotiabank Saddledome

November 04, 2024

CALGARY, AB – Drawing even in the Battle of Alberta.

The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Calgary Flames 4-2 at Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday night to exact revenge on their provincial rivals for their defeat on home ice earlier this season at Rogers Place.

Zach Hyman scored the game-winner on the power play with 9:50 remaining, while adding an assist on Jeff Skinner's first-period tally that gave the Oilers a 2-0 lead that the Flames would battle back from with goals from Anthony Mantha and Yegor Sharangovich in the second and third periods.

Leon Draisaitl scored his ninth goal of the season on the game's opening goal only 20 seconds into regulation and ended the night with a goal and two assists – his second straight three-point performance – including the secondary helper on Hyman's winner.

"Leon has definitely been our leader," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "You look at these two games that we've won here and in Nashville and you can see that he's really stepped up his game."

Goaltender Stuart Skinner was strong all night with 29 saves, remaining unbeaten in his career at Scotiabank Saddledome (4-0-0) after making a number of key stops to help preserve the victory, including late in the game with the Flames' net empty.

"It felt fantastic, especially being able to get the win," Skinner said. "Obviously, they put a ton of pressure on us at the end there, and Rico came up with a massive block to keep things easy on me. After that Columbus game, I had a long time to wait, so it feels a little bit more like a win."

Mattias Janmark added an empty-netter for his first goal of the season, while Vasily Podkolzin, Darnell Nurse and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each added helpers.

The Oilers will wrap up back-to-back games on Monday night on home ice against the New Jersey Devils.

Draisaitl records another three points in a 4-2 win over the Flames

After taking 37 seconds on Thursday to pressure the Predators into giving up the opening goal, the Oilers top line of Vasily Podkolzin, Leon Draisaitl and Viktor Arvidsson nearly halved that return against the Flames by opening the scoring only 20 seconds into Sunday's Battle of Alberta.

The forward unit regrouped in the neutral zone before Arvidsson chased down a rimmed puck and helped squeeze it up the wall to Podkolzin, who stopped a potential clearance and delivered it in front to a wide-open Draisaitl to fire past Dan Vladar on his backhand to give his side another early lead.

Draisaitl's ninth goal of the season and his sixth goal in his last five contests and the fourth-fastest goal ever to start a Battle of Alberta.

"He's playing unbelievable," Hyman said of Draisaitl. "I think his whole line's playing great and he's really driving the bus right now for our team and in all areas of the game. He's been phenomenal."

Draisaitl spins & backhands the Oilers to an early lead in Calgary

The Oilers were off to another fast start and doubled their lead before the halfway mark on a fast rush that was tucked home by Jeff Skinner for his third goal of the season.

Skinner centred a pass to Hyman coming out of the zone with speed and funnelled in behind his linemate, fighting off Rasmus Andersson to win the space needed to accept the layoff from Hyman and tuck it inside the near post with his second effort on Flames netminder Dan Vladar from below the goal line.

Skinner now has points in back-to-back games after picking up an assist Thursday in Nashville, along with Zach Hyman, who collected his 198th career assist on his linemate's second tally this season versus the Flames.

The Oilers led 2-0 at 11:48 of the first period and were tracking to win their seventh straight visit to Scotiabank Saddledome, but all of those games have been decided by one- and two-goal margins, and there were still almost two-and-a-half periods left to play in Calgary.

Skinner scores on his second attempt to extend the Oilers lead

Darnell Nurse and Vasily Podkolzin followed up their side's go-ahead goal with rush chances of their own that were denied by Vladar before the Flames started to fight back before the intermission.

After scoring in their 4-1 win over Edmonton back on Oct. 13, Andersson had Calgary's best opportunity with over three minutes left in the period to snipe top shelf on Skinner from the same spot he scored from at Rogers Place last month, but the Oilers netminder made an important save

The Flames hemmed the Oilers in for the final minute-and-a-half, where Skinner stopped Kevin Bahl from the right side with seven seconds left in the period to preserve the two-goal lead heading into the intermission.

Mattias talks after the Oilers win in Calgary on Sunday

Stuart Skinner was strong in the second period, making nine saves for the Oilers, but couldn't do anything about Anthony Mantha's high deflection on Calgary's opening power play that cut into his side's advantage at 4:33 of the frame.

Late in an Adam Henrique interference penalty, former Oilers D-man Tyson Barrie let fly a high wrist shot that was knocked down by Mantha while attempting to deliver the screen in front, nestling into the right side of Skinner's net after he didn't even attempt to drop to his butterfly.

The Oilers goaltender motioned to the official for a high stick, but after being reviewed from a few different angles, the goal was upheld to give Mantha his fourth of the season and provide the Flames a foothold to push on from.

Kris addresses the media post-game in Calgary on Sunday

The Battle of Alberta opened up from there, with Blake Coleman's low shot on an odd-man rush soon after bouncing directly into the path of Mikael Backlund in the slot for an open-net chance that was broken up by the back-tracking Darnell Nurse for the critical intervention.

Skinner denied the Flames again with two point-blank chances in the final three minutes of the frame, receiving plenty of 'Stuuuuuuus!' despite being in Calgary before Edmonton closed out the period with 1:07 of power-play time.

With another win over the Flames on Sunday, Skinner's career record improves to 5-2-0 against the Flames over seven starts while remaining unbeaten at Scotiabank Saddledome (4-0-0).

"Playing in Calgary can be nice," he said. "It's tough too because it's the Battle of Alberta, but I think for me, it's so enjoyable. Growing up and watching it, being part of it even when you're just a kid, it's pretty special being able to play in Calgary's barn here."

Stuart speaks after making 29 saves in Calgary on Sunday

Yegor Sharangovich managed to find a way to make it 2-2 on his first goal of the season 4:28 into the final frame on a shot that came from distance while Mantha delivered the screen that once again caused issues for Stuart Skinner.

The Flames forward fired his first goal of the season off the far post and in through traffic while Mantha was parked in front, tying the Battle of Alberta and putting the result in the balance with over three-quarters of the period left to play.

But after Mattias Ekholm was high-sticked later in the period, it was an opportunity for Zach Hyman to come through in the clutch to score in his second straight game on the power play.

Leon Draisaitl connected on a pass to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at the blueline off a neutral-zone regroup before the longest-tenured Oiler gave it to Zach Hyman, who avoided the poke-check from Vladar and elevated his backhand into the top of Calgary's net to give the Oilers a 3-2 lead.

"I took a peek just to see how far away I was from him," he said. "Nuge made a great play. I thought that if it got to me, I'd be in, and I like to go to the backhand there."

Hyman restores the Oilers lead with a power-play backhand

Skinner continued to come up with the necessary saves for the Oilers when he needed to, robbing Nazem Kadi's wide-open effort from the left circle with the glove as time in the third period dropped below the nine-minute mark.

"I think first and foremost, Stu played great," Hyman said. "I think he gave us a chance to win. He made some huge saves, key saves, at the right times, so that was first and foremost. I thought it was overall a good team effort. We weathered periods of the game when they had their pushes and pulled out the win."

The Flames took a late bench minor for too many men, but they still pulled their goalie for the extra attacker to make it five-on-five, nearly receiving the last-minute equalizer when Andersson found a loose puck amidst a chaotic scramble around the crease before putting it off the side of the post.

Connor Zary returned to the ice for the final 18 seconds of regulation, but the Oilers moved it out of the zone through Draisaitl, who offloaded the puck to Mattias Janmark in the neutral zone to ice the contest with an empty-netter.

After starting the season 1-3-0, the Oilers have won five of their last eight games (5-2-1) to draw themselves back into the Pacific Division pack with a 6-5-1 overall record. The Flames fall to 0-5-1 in their last six games since starting the year on a five-game winning streak.

"When our backs are against the wall or whenever we face some sort of adversity, we just come out stronger, come out better, and that's the kind of group that we got in here," Skinner said. "I think we have a crew here that just isn't willing to give up."

Zach speaks after scoring the winner on Sunday vs. Calgary