• Yan Kuznetsov opened the scoring for the Flames (1-0) after being afford the time and space to take a few whacks at a loose puck that was laying in the crease. Pickard stopped the first two shots but couldn’t get the third, and it would have been nice if his defenceman had been a little more aggressive in clearing the crease.
• Anthony Mantha extended the Flames’ lead (2-0) on a perfectly executed 2-on-1 with Jonathan Huberdeau, and I’d wager that might have been one of the easiest tap-ins he’s ever had. Not great coverage by the Oilers’ fourth line, which resulted in a goal against for the second time in the first period.
• Rasmus Andersson put Calgary up by a field goal (3-0) on the power play with a blast from the point that made its way through traffic and past Pickard before he even knew what happened. Unfortunately, Noah Philp lost the defensive zone draw, and the puck was in the back of the net in a snap.
• Only 1:01 after Andersson put the Flames up by three, Matt Coronato scored his first goal of the pre-season to make it a 4-0 game on a give-and-go play with Justin Kirkland that left him wide open for a shot from the slot. In every way, this game was painful. Coronato added a second goal early in the third period on a snipe from the slot that was off his stick in a hurry.
• The Oilers finally got on the board (4-1) late in the second period when Connor McDavid rushed the puck into Calgary’s zone and fed a charging Zach Hyman, who wasted no time in burying the chance. It was a beautifully executed play by two guys who have done it many times before, but if there was a downside, it had to be seeing Hyman crash into the net after snapping his shot. He was fine, but you know what I mean.
• Noel Hoefenmayer narrowed the gap (4-2) when his centring pass attempt took a hometown bounce off the Calgary defender’s skate, trickling past Murphy and over the goal line.
• Justin Kirkland made it 6-2 Flames after a rebound was kicked out to him off of Brochu’s pad with a wide-open net to shoot at. Rebound goals don’t get much easier than this one. I was hoping the Rogers Place staff would run the clock, but I guess there are rules about that kind of thing.
• Connor McDavid put on a show in the third period when he dangled a handful of Flames in their own zone and snapped a quick wrister past the goalie (6-3) to pick up his first of the pre-season. I personally do not care if Connor produces in the pre-season, but it is always nice to see him score a pretty one.
• He may not have scored, but I really liked the way Raphael Lavoie played alongside Leon Draisaitl in his first real chance to skate with some skilled linemates so far.
• Corey Perry took a puck to the face midway through the second period, and he didn’t look comfortable at all as he was leaving the ice. Even though Perry was okay, it’s the exact kind of bad luck play that can be devastating in the pre-season, and another reason to hate these games if you’re looking. Sorry, I’m too salty. I’ll be better.
• He may not have scored on either of the two point-blank chances he’s had, but Vasily Podkolzin looked pretty damned good in his second pre-season game in as many nights. Call me a homer all you want, but I legitimately think we’ll like Vasily Podkolzin a lot for how aggressive he is on the forecheck, even if he doesn’t have the finish to score a whole lot. I know I wrote about this last night, but his willingness to chase pucks down is a mindset that I’ll take all day, and I look forward to watching him shake pucks loose for his linemates.
• You’ve got to give the Devin Cooley credit for how he played in net for Calgary because he was fantastic. The Oilers handily outshot the Flames and certainly had enough quality scoring chances to beat him more than three times, but Cooley stood tall between the pipes and prevented Edmonton from climbing back into the game.
• Big shout out to the ref for not allowing a TV timeout with 33 seconds left in the first period. He’s the real MVP here.

ROAD GAME OBSERVATIONS

I’m not going to lie to you, friends, I was mostly watching the home side of this split squad so all of the “observations” from the road game are going to come from the few minutes I spent side-eyeing the Flames stream on my iPad.

• Mike Hoffman opened the scoring for the Oilers (1-0) with a power play marker after blasting a one-timer from the high circle that beat Vladar cleanly on the glove-hand side. The dude can still rip the pill, and he showed it on this one. Hat tip to Stauffer for letting me know this goal was coming so I could pop over to the Flames stream just in time.
• Nazem Kadri tied the game at (1-1) after a point shot by the Flames d-man took a friendly bounce off the end boards and popped right onto his stick. You could say it was an unlucky bounce, but the replay also suggests that Kadri wasn’t exactly surprised by how that puck banked out into the slot.
• Connor Zary gave the Flames their first lead of the game (2-1) at 5:14 of the second period after he got his stick on Mikael Backlund’s shot, deflecting it perfectly through Olivier Rodrigue. Zary added another goal (3-1) four minutes later after taking a pass from Kuzmenko in flight and burying his shot past Rodrigue.
• When it rains, it pours, and that was how I’d describe the 4-1 rebound goal scored by Danill Miromanov that beat a sprawling Rodrigue high over his glove as he was falling. From a Flames perspective, that was Zary’s third point of the period, and they’re probably super excited about that. Whomp whomp.
• The game went from bad to worse with 1:39 left in the second period, which was when Yegor Sharangovich cashed in (5-1) yet another opportunity from the slot, making me think the Oilers’ defence didn’t know that area of the ice is part of their purview. If I’m being honest, I laughed out loud when I saw that Sharangovich scored a shorthanded goal to make it a 6-1 game. Getting stomped is one thing, but doing it in both Alberta barns really is something special.
• Watch out for Bruce Curlock’s review from Calgary, which will be hitting the site tomorrow. Apparently, Josh Brown was an adventure down there and not one that was filled with sunshine and cool cocktails. Bruce also added that the battle for the 6/7D spot doesn’t seem to be going too well but did want people to know Max Wanner and Ben Gleason look good.
• I know it didn’t amount to anything, but I appreciated this nifty little dipsy doodle by Matthew Savoie at the Flames’ blue line late in the first period. It will take him time to figure out the NHL level, but I believe he will do it.