Welcome to Instant Reaction, where we give you our instant reaction to tonight’s Calgary Flames game and ask our readers to do the same in the comments section below!
The third and final Battle of Alberta of the season unfolded at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Saturday night. A desperate Calgary Flames team faced a banged-up Edmonton Oilers squad, and it resulted in three periods (and overtime) of pretty chippy ice hockey.
In a back and forth game that required bonus time to decide, the Flames lost to the Oilers by a 3-2 score.

The rundown

The first period was pretty tight-checking and a fairly even period of hockey.
Four and a half minutes into the first period, the Flames scored off a rush play. Nazem Kadri carried the puck into the Oilers zone and fired the puck on net. Calvin Pickard made the initial save, but the rebound went right to Yegor Sharangovich, who put the puck into the open net to give the Flames a 1-0 lead.
First period shots were 7-7. Via Natural Stat Trick, five-on-five scoring chances were 7-5 Flames (high-danger chances were 2-2).
The Flames pressed for a second goal for much of the second period, but they couldn’t translate their scoring chances into more goals.
Meanwhile, the Oilers’ chances were few and far between. But when they got chances, they were high-danger chances. Dustin Wolf made a couple big stops on Leon Draisaitl, including a big one midway through the period.
But with less than four minutes left in the middle frame, the Oilers drew even. The Flames did a nice job disrupting the Oilers’ initial rush into their zone, but didn’t do enough to chase down the loose puck. Darnell Nurse collected the puck, passed it down the boards to Draisaitl, and Draisaitl fired a great pass across the zone over to Viktor Arvidsson. Arvidsson fired a quick shot that beat a sliding Wolf to tie the game at 1-1.
Near the end of the period, Joel Farabee snowed Pickard after a scoring chance and then Mikael Backlund almost fell onto the netminder. That led to a scrum that featured Corey Perry repeatedly punching Backlund.
Second period shots were 12-9 Flames. Five-on-five scoring chances were 11-6 Flames (high-dangers were 6-2 Flames).
Midway through a back-and-forth third period, the Flames grabbed the lead. Once again, the Flames entered the Oilers zone with numbers. Kadri threw the puck towards the slot and it went to a pinching Brayden Pachal, who entered the zone as the trailing player on the rush. With Martin Pospisil providing a screen, Pachal’s shot beat Pickard to give the Flames a 2-1 lead.
But with just over three minutes left in regulation, the Oilers evened things up. After an initial chance was cleared, the Oilers reloaded after intercepting a Flames pass in the neutral zone and Draisaitl got around Kevin Bahl and picked the far corner, stick-side, on Wolf to tie the game at 2-2. (That was Draisaitl’s 50th goal of the season.)
Third period shots were 11-7 Oilers. Five-on-five scoring chances were 15-3 Oilers (high-danger chances were 5-1 Oilers).
Appropriately for a game that was this evenly played, it required overtime to decide.
Draisaitl scored on an odd-man rush after Kadri was knocked down in the Oilers zone to give Edmonton a 3-2 victory.

Why the Flames got a point

The Flames didn’t carry play as much as they did on Thursday against Dallas, but they were a bit tighter defensively and did a good job supporting their goaltender. And when the Flames did generate chances, they were a bit better at burying their looks than they were against Dallas.
They seemed to lose steam in the third period, and they were just leaky enough when Draisaitl was on the ice – especially late in the game – to lose in overtime.

Red Warrior

A lot of players on the road team had good outings. We’ll single out Kadri, as he had two primary assists and looked really engaged against the Oilers.
But honourable mentions go to Wolf, Farabee, Andersson and Pachal.

Turning point

Draisaitl scored twice in this game. His game-tying goal – off a neutral zone turnover from the visitors – was a tough one for the Flames to allow given the state of the game.

This and that

The game was delayed for several minutes early in the first period due to a medical emergency involving a spectator.
Yegor Sharangovich returned to the Flames lineup after being a scratch against Dallas. He replaced the injured Connor Zary. The Flames also swapped in Brayden Pachal for Daniil Miromanov on the back end.
This was Morgan Frost’s 300th NHL game.
Nazem Kadri’s assist on Sharangovich’s goal was his 700th NHL point.

Up next

The Flames (34-26-12) continue their road trip on Monday night when they visit the Colorado Avalanche in the first half of a back-to-back set. (They visit Utah on Tuesday night.)

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