Draisaitl has goal, 2 assists for Edmonton; Calgary has lost 5 of 6

By Aaron Vickers

NHL.com Independent Correspondent

November 04, 2024

CALGARY -- Zach Hyman scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period for the Edmonton Oilers in a 4-2 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday.

Hyman made it 3-2 with a power-play goal at 10:10. He got behind Calgary's defense, took a saucer pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and pulled the puck to his backhand before lifting a shot over the blocker of Dan Vladar, who missed on a poke check.

"I took a peek just to see how far away I was from him," Hyman said. "'Nuge' made a great play. I thought that if it got to me I'd be in. I like to go to the backhand there, so I went to the backhand, and (if you) get it up you have a good chance of scoring."

EDM@CGY: Hyman backhands a beauty for PPG and 3-2 lead

Mattias Janmark scored into an empty net with three seconds remaining for the 4-2 final.

"You need to play 60 (minutes)," Calgary forward Anthony Mantha said. "If not, you're not winning a lot of games in this league. We battled back to make it interesting. They get a spring on the power play for them and we're playing catch-up hockey at that point."

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists for the Oilers (6-5-1), who have won four of five, including two straight since it was announced that Connor McDavid would be out 2-3 weeks because of an ankle injury. Stuart Skinner made 29 saves.

"It's kind of what we do now," Skinner said. "When our backs are against the wall or whenever we face some sort of adversity, we just come out strong, we come out better. That's the kind of group we've got in here. I think you've just got a crew here that isn't willing to give up."

Mantha and Yegor Sharangovich scored, and Vladar made 27 saves for the Flames (6-5-1), who have lost five of six.

"When we're playing our game, I think we are a really hard team to play against," Calgary forward Martin Pospisil said. "We just have to keep playing our game and stick with it."

Draisaitl scored 20 seconds into the first period to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. He took a centering pass from Vasily Podkolzin in the slot, spun and lifted a backhand over Vladar's blocker.

He has six points (three goals, three assists) in the two games without McDavid.

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

EDM@CGY: Draisaitl scores just 20 seconds into the game

Jeff Skinner made it 2-0 at 8:12 of the first, jamming in the puck from below the goal line after his initial attempt off the rush hit the right post.

Mantha cut the lead to 2-1 at 4:33 of the second period with a deflection below Skinner's blocker on the power play.

Sharangovich tied it 2-2 with his first goal of the season at 4:28 of the third period. He scored with a wrist shot through traffic that beat Skinner's glove before deflecting in off the far post.

"It's so easy to let games like that slip," Skinner said. "It's so easy in the NHL. You let off the gas pedal for two seconds and it's in the back of the net. I think this group, especially from where we came last year and where we want to go the previous years, it's all experience to help you out, and I think it's definitely been very helpful for us in just the sense of being able to finish a game."

NOTES: Draisaitl's goal was the fourth-fastest to start a game by an Oilers player in the Battle of Alberta. Only Petr Klima (nine seconds on Feb. 27, 1991), Craig MacTavish (12 seconds on March 11, 1989) and Marty McSorley (14 seconds on Jan. 5, 1986) scored quicker. ... Draisaitl is also one point away from joining Wayne Gretzky (439) and McDavid (335) as the third player in Oilers history to get at least 300 power-play points.