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The Calgary Flames had tough times in back-to-back situations last season, and tough times against the Edmonton Oilers last season. But the 2024-25 edition of the Flames have proven to be a bit of a revelation thus far, and they refuse to go away quietly.
The Flames allowed an early goal, and then figured themselves out en route to a 4-1 road win over the defending Western Conference champion Oilers at Rogers Place. The Flames remain undefeated through three games this season.

The rundown

The Oilers opened the scoring early. A Mattias Ekholm shot from the point rebounded right to Jeff Skinner, parked to Dan Vladar’s left, and he fired the rebound into the open net to give the home side a 1-0 lead.
A little while later, Corey Perry deflected a Troy Stecher point shot past Vladar. But the Flames challenged for goaltender interference and, after a lengthy review, it was waved off because it was judged that Perry was crowding out Vladar in his crease.
First period shots were 10-5 Oilers. Via Natural Stat Trick, five-on-five scoring chances were 12-10 Flames (high-dangers were 5-4 Flames).
A few minutes into the second period, the Oilers seemed to have scored a second second goal off a nice rush passing play, with Derek Ryan finishing it off. However, that sequence was challenged, too, this time for being off-side. The goal was waved off after review and the game remained 1-0.
That was huge, as 1:57 later, Rasmus Andersson dangled from the defensive blueline to the slot in front of Stuart Skinner and fired the puck into the net to make it a 1-1 game. Andersson made many players in blue and orange look like pylons on that sequence.
Second period shots were 11-5 Flames. Five-on-five scoring chances were 12-7 Flames (high-dangers were 6-2 Flames).
The Flames pulled away midway through the third period.
First, a lengthy possession shift for the Jonathan Huberdeau-Martin Pospisil-Anthony Mantha line led to a Pospisil shot on net with Mantha parked in front. Mantha chipped the rebound past Skinner to give the Flames a 2-1 lead.
A couple minutes later, Justin Kirkland got his first NHL goal. The Oilers couldn’t clear their zone, as Andersson held the puck in at the point. A Kevin Bahl point shot was stopped by Skinner, but Kirkland chipped the puck past Skinner to give the Flames a 3-1 lead.
The Oilers pulled Skinner for the extra attacker late, but Connor Zary added an empty-netter to give the Flames a 4-1 win.
Third period shots were 13-10 Flames. Five-on-five scoring chances were 6-3 Flames (high-dangers were 3-2 Flames).

Why the Flames won

The Flames weren’t all that good in the first period, but their goaltender kept them in it – as did a couple well-executed coach’s challenges. It’s been a pattern so far this season.
The other part of the pattern? Great bounce-backs from sub-par starts. The Flames found their legs, found the pace, and then just played their game. The Oilers are a bit out of sorts to start the season… and the Flames were perfectly content to let them remain out of sorts.

Red Warrior

Unfortunately, video coach Jamie Pringle is not eligible for this honour.
But let’s give some love to Rasmus Andersson, who had a beauty of a goal and a couple assists (all at even strength) to lead the way. The Flames got some very nice execution from some of their depth pieces, but one of their top defenders played like a top player in a key game against a key opponent.
In general, though, the visitors were good. Daniil Miromanov was the only minus player overall, and we saw a lot of good play from Kevin Bahl on the back end.

Turning point

We’re gonna cheat and point out two:
  • In the span of just shy of two minutes, the Flames successfully challenged Derek Ryan’s goal to keep the score at 1-0. And then Rasmus Andersson dangled his way into the Oilers zone and beat Stuart Skinner to tie the game.
  • The Flames scored twice in a span of 2:21, with Anthony Mantha putting them up one and Justin Kirkland giving them some insurance.

This and that

Tyson Barrie, formerly of the Oilers (and other clubs), made his Flames debut. Matt Coronato also rotated in for his first game of the season.

Up next

The Flames (3-0-0) are headed home. They host Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.