Flames 2, Oilers 1
Alex Tanguay scored with 4:28 left in the third period to propel the Calgary Flames past the visiting Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in the latest chapter of the Battle of Alberta on Tuesday.
Moments after Jay Bouwmeester had tied the game for Calgary, Tanguay sent the Pengrowth Saddledome crowd into a tizzy with his first goal of the season. Edmonton netminder Devan Dubnyk redirected a Cory Sarich shot with his blocker, but the puck bounced right to Tanguay and he swatted the puck into a partially open net.
Playing without star forward Taylor Hall (flu), the Oilers kept Calgary in check over the first 54 minutes but simply ran out of steam down the stretch as they played their third game in a four-day stretch. They had one final chance to tie with 15 seconds remaining, but Flames netminder Miikka Kiprusoff stuck out his right pad to deny Anton Lander from the side of the net.
Edmonton defenseman Tom Gilbert had the lone goal of the opening period, slapping a shot from the right faceoff circle past Kiprusoff on an Oilers power play at 6:42.
The teams sleepwalked through the middle period, combining for just 10 shots. Calgary had two prime scoring chances turned away by Dubnyk while the only sustained pressure for the Oilers came at the end of the frame, when Kiprusoff made several saves from in close with Edmonton enjoying a man advantage.
A broken play allowed the Flames to finally solve Dubnyk with 5:57 remaining. The puck slipped off Olli Jokinen's stick deep in Edmonton territory and slid directly to Bouwmeester, whose wrist shot from the slot eluded Dubnyk on the blocker side.