*Photo from TSN*
The first edition of the Battle of Alberta did not disappoint. Nazem Kadri had a goal and an assist, Michael Stone had a 3 point game, and the Calgary Flames defeated the Edmonton Oilers with a 4-3 victory on Saturday night in Edmonton.
The two teams met for the first time this season in the second game of the year for both squads. A 4 goal first period was all the Flames needed to pick up the win. Leading the way offensively was Stone, who recorded his first 3 point game in his NHL career, picking up a goal and two assists to get the job done.
Flames head coach Darryl Sutter said that "I thought we played a really strong game. In the second period, you knew they were going to come with a push, and they did early. I thought for the most part we did a pretty good job."
Starting the scoring right off the bat was Mikael Backlund, who gave the Flames a 1-0 lead just 1:13 into the game, with Stone and Blake Coleman assisting. Cody Ceci scored 3:18 into the game to tie it 1-1, before Stone scored 4:34 into the game to give the Flames a 2-1 lead. A power play goal for Kadri followed by an even strength goal from Andrew Mangiapane made it 4-1 Flames.
In the second period, Connor McDavid cut into the deficit for the Oilers, scoring on the power play 10:18 into the middle period to make it 4-2, assisted by Leon Draisaitl and Evander Kane. Ryan McLeod picked up his first goal of the season to cut the deficit to 4-3, but the Oilers couldn't score again.
Stone said after the game that "The first period was good. We came out with a lot of energy and did some good things. We kind of got back on our heels a little bit in the second, but we managed to turn it back around in the third and finished off the game well, which was good to see. We didn't panic. We know what it takes to win and what little things need to be done to win in this League."
Getting the start for the Flames was Dan Vladar, who picked up the win in his season debut. Vladar stopped 26 of the 29 shots the Oilers sent at him, recording a sub .900 save percentage, finishing at .897 in the win.
It was Jack Campbell who picked up the start for the Oilers, dropping to 1-1-0 this season. Campbell allowed 4 goals on 11 shots before he was pulled in favor of Stuart Skinner. He stopped all 31 shots he faced in relief.
Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft gave his thoughts, saying that "You look at some of the goals that went in, I thought around our net we were not near as assertive or hard the way we normally can play. They did a good job of getting to our net, and we can do a better job of preventing them from getting there."
Up next, the Flames are back in action with a Tuesday night home game against the Vegas Golden Knights, with Jacob Markstrom in line to start. The Oilers welcome the Buffalo Sabres to town on Tuesday night, with Campbell the likely starter.
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