Oilers earn shootout win over Flames
EDMONTON, Alberta -- After 60 minutes of cautious hockey and five minutes of frenetic overtime, the Oilers got shootout goals from Leon Draisaitl and Mark Letestu to give them a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames.
Brian Elliott made 26 saves for the Flames. Oilers goalie Cam Talbot made 24 stops and was perfect in the shootout.
The game started off slowly, with scoring chances at a premium through the first period. The Flames outshot the Oilers 8-5, but there was only one real scoring chance of note, Talbot came up with a huge glove save on Calgary's Sean Monahan after the Flames came down the ice on a three-on-one rush.
The game's feel was just as cautious through most of the second period, as shots were few and far between. But, with a little less than four minutes to in the second period, the crowd at Rogers Place finally had reason to jump out of their seats.
At the 16:24 mark, on a goalmouth scramble, Patrick Maroon smashed home his team-leading 18th goal of the season to give the Oilers a 1-0. It was just the Oilers' 10th shot on goal. Flames defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka was in the penalty box when the goal was scored.
But, just 26 seconds later, on just their 11th and 12th shots on goal, the Flames evened the score. Monahan's initial shot was stopped by Talbot, but the Flames center pounced on the rebound and made no mistake with the second attempt.
Three minutes into the third, Talbot made a series of saves as the Flames enjoyed an extended period of pressure in the Oilers zone. Calgary's Johnny Gaudreau had a couple of good chances to give the Flames the lead, but Talbot kept the puck out.
The Flames kept pushing to go ahead, with Deryk Engelland rocketing a shot off the post with a little more than 11 minutes left in the third.
O ilers right winger Jordan Eberle, who hasn't scored since Dec. 6, had a breakaway chance in the overtime frame, but couldn't get a shot on goal. With less than a minute left in overtime, Eberle deftly tipped a point shot from Oscar Klefbom, but Elliott got his pad on the puck.
Gaudreau rang a shot off the post just before the end of the overtime period. And Elliott made a sprawling save to rob Maroon with two seconds left on the clock. The five minutes overtime produced more in terms of edge-of-the-seat action than the 60 minutes that preceded it.
NOTES: Hayley Wickenheiser, who was one of the greatest women's hockey players in the world, was honored in a pregame ceremony. Wickenheiser won five Olympic medals, four of them gold, with the Canadian women's team. She also represented her country in softball at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She announced her retirement earlier this week. Wayne Gretzky, longtime teammate Danielle Goyette and Wickenheiser's son, Noah, were part of the entourage. Gretzky called her the "female Gordie Howe." ... Oilers D Adam Larsson missed the game with a lower-body injury. D Eric Gryba took his spot in the lineup. ... Flames C Matt Stajan played his 900th career NHL game Saturday. ... The Flames and Oilers met twice in October, with Edmonton winning both games by a collective 12-7 margin. They will meet again in Calgary next Saturday. ... The Oilers scratched LW Jujhar Khaira. ... The Flames scratched C Freddie Hamilton, D Brett Kulak and LW Micheal Ferland.