Ah crap, here we go again.
On Sunday evening, the Edmonton Oilers hosted the Calgary Flames for their third game of the season, falling 4-1 to their provincial rival to bring their season record to 0-3. Not great.
For the first time all season, the Oilers had a lead in a game as Jeff Skinner pounced on a juicy rebound, scoring on what was basically an empty net for his first goal as an Oiler.
It looked as if the Oilers went up 2-0 a short while later, as Corey Perry deflected a puck in front of Flames netminder Daniel Vladař late in the first period. However, the goal was called back after a lengthy review on one of the weakest goalie interferences any of us have ever seen. While there’s no doubt Perry was in the crease, it was the Flames’ netminder who initiated the contact.
Once the dust had settled from the Perry disallowed goal, it once again looked like the Oilers had jumped out to a 2-0 lead, with Derek Ryan trying out his best Bobby Orr impression on what would have been his first of the year. However, the goal was called off after another successful coach’s challenge when Viktor Arvidsson was shown to be offside. This was ultimately the right call, but the Flames shouldn’t have even had the opportunity to call it because the Perry goal would have wiped out their timeout.
Having another goal overturned seemed to demotivate the Oilers, as the Flames really started to find their stride in the minutes that followed. It was then when future Oiler (hopefully) Rasmus Andersson scored to tie the game at one apiece, giving the Flames life in a game that could have easily been out of reach.
Even with the game tied, it was all Calgary in the third period. After the first few minutes flowed back and forth fairly evenly, Anthony Mantha scored what ended up being the game-winning goal on a rebound after poor puck control from Stuart Skinner put the thing right on his stick. It also didn’t help that Zach Hyman was the Oiler left to defend him in front of the net.
Less than two minutes later, the Flames got an insurance goal from Justin Kirkland, his first in the NHL. Darnell Nurse lost his man after the shot, leaving him all alone for the wide open look that made it a 3-1 game. And with 23 seconds left on the clock, Connor Zary added an empty netter to ice the game for the Southern Alberta team.
Takeaways…
On Sunday, the Flames were clearly the better team, outshooting Edmonton 29-25. This was the first time the Oilers had been outshot this season, and the first loss where they appeared to deserve it.
A positive note from the game — if you can call it that — was the penalty kill, as they killed all three penalties they took. Late in the second period, on Edmonton’s second penalty kill, Stuart Skinner made the team’s first save on the PK this season.
Connor McDavid picked up an assist on Jeff Skinner’s goal, his second point in three games. He, along with Skinner and Mattias Ekholm, all have two points, a rather concerning stat early in the season.
The Oilers are back in action on Tuesday at 8 p.m. MT, as their homestand continues against the Philadelphia Flyers. Philadelphia’s last game was Saturday, when they lost 6-3 to the Flames. Edmonton needs to win this one.
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