Pre-Season Post-Game: Flames Extinguished (Twice)

It was a tale of two cities on Monday night, as the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers did battle in both cities in split squad action. What resulted was more or less what you would expect from a pair of contests with players playing high-level hockey against actual opposition for the first time in several months.

It was choppy. It was occasionally dull. But it was hockey, so it wasn’t really all that bad.

In terms of results: the Flames lost both games – 4-2 in Edmonton and 3-1 in Calgary. Both games were determined by late third period goals (and an empty-netter).

The game in Calgary was a fairly even affair on the scoreboard, and featured the Flames spending a surprisingly large proportion of time in their own end – a product of a series of penalties they took and a few defensive miscues. Rarely did it bite them in the backside, but it probably wasn’t a great way to start the pre-season. That said, everyone’s trying to get their legs under ’em, so you have to lower your expectations accordingly.

Nobody scored in the first period and each side took three minors (including a Dougie Hamilton double-minor). Hamilton redeemed himself with a wrist shot on a late-period power-play that knocked Ben Scrivens’ mask off. In the second, Michael Frolik opened the scoring on a neat power-play rush: Jonas Hiller’s outlet pass from the defensive red line found Johnny Gaudreau, who took a few strides into the offensive end and found Frolik, who sniped it top corner on Scrivens. Frolik also had a chance to put the game out of reach with a penalty shot, but was stopped by Anders Nilsson (who came in mid-way through the game, as did Joni Ortio in the Flames net).

Hunter Smith also got into a scrap with Darnell Nurse, which probably involved them reminiscing about the good old days in the OHL.

The game was determined in the third. It went back and forth (in a scrambley kind of way). Late in the third, Emile Poirier attempted to feed Mark Giordano in the slot. The puck trickled just past Giordano’s stick, and Jordan Eberle collected it and went back with Benoit Pouliot on an odd-man rush. Pouliot put it past Ortio for the lead. Justin Schultz added a late empty-netter to make it 3-1.

In Calgary: Michael Frolik. The lone goal and a ton of chances.

In Edmonton: Oliver Kylington. He scored one of two goals and was reportedly mixing it up frequently.

The Flames have an off-day tomorrow. It will be a day for solemn reflection, and probably for cuts. They’re back in (pre-season) action on Thursday when a group of players head to Denver to play the Colorado Avalanche.