A trio of Edmonton Oilers goals in the third period sunk the Calgary Flames hopes of heading back home with a win over the divisional rivals on Monday night at Rexall Place.
The Oilers scored a power play tally, a short-handed marker, and an empty-netter in the late stages of the game, edging the Flames 4-2 in pre-season action.
"Overall it was a pretty good effort, especially our young kids," said assistant coach Jacques Cloutier, who ran the Flames bench in Edmonton with counterpart Martin Gelinas. "For a lot of them it was their first game and they played pretty hard."
Defenceman Oliver Kylington and centre Markus Granlundscored for Calgary.
In his first pre-season game, Kylington stood out on the Flames blueline. The Swede rung a hard shot off the post early on, netted Calgary's first goal of the night, and looked poised in his own zone.
"I felt pretty good. I was a bit nervous at the beginning but when the game started I was pretty calm and it was fun to play out there," Kylington said of his first taste of NHL action. "I think I played easy in our own end, I didn’t play that fancy I just played easy. I kept the pucks out and blocked some shots. I think I did a decent defensive job and I’m pretty proud of that.
"I think I did pretty good. Hopefully it gets better and better."
Kenny Agostino's former Yale teammate Andrew Miller opened the scoring for the Oilers, gliding along the boards and slipping a wrist shot underneath Ramo's pads at 14:33 of the first period.
That lead was short-lived, however, as Kylington tied things up with the Flames first goal of the 2015 pre-season. Calgary's second round selection in this year's NHL Draft plucked an errant pass off at centre ice and was able snap a shot a shot past Cam Talbot blocker-side.
"I think he was real good," Cloutier said of Kylington. "He moved the puck well. When he plays a simple game he is very effective. When you’re young that’s what you have to do – make the easy play."
With 9:21 left in the second period, the Oilers made a goaltender change, with Laurent Brossoit, who was selected by the Flames in the sixth round of the 2011 NHL Draft, taking over in net for Talbot.
Shortly after taking control of the crease, Brossoit's fellow 2011 draftee Markus Granlund gave the Flames a 2-1 lead with a short-handed goal at the 13:28 mark. Garnet Hathaway forced a turnover in the neutral zone and Granlund was to skate in unimpeded, ripping a wrist shot past Brossoit.
After stopping 16 of 17 shots in the first two periods, Karri Ramo was replaced in net by Mason McDonald. He stopped the first nine shots Edmonton sent at him but was unable to corral a shot from Leon Draisaitl, in tight on the power play late in the stanza.
Shortly after the Draisaitl equalizer, Anton Lander made it a 3-2 game with a short-handed goal. Evading Dennis Wideman at the blueline, the Oilers forward chipped the puck up and was able to get a clean shot off just above the hash marks.
Nail Yakupov added an empty-net goal to make it 4-2 and seal the victory for the Oilers.
ICE CHIPS: Karri Ramo, Kris Russell, Dennis Wideman, Morgan Klimchuk, Markus Granlund, and Kenny Agostino got the start in Edmonton ... Russell, Wideman, and Lance Bouma sported the A's for Calgary on Monday night ... Derek Engelland led all Flames with four shots on net ... Kris Russell led all Calgary skaters in ice time, logging 25:58 ... Joe Colborne, Kenney Morrison, and Dustin Stevenson were the scratches in Edmonton.
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