The Edmonton Oilers overcame a pair of disallowed goals and two broken sticks the Calgary Flames converted into goals to win 5-3 and even their playoff series at one victory apiece Friday.
Zach Hyman scored the winning goal shorthanded in the third period.
Edmonton captain Connor McDavid’s goal and assist Friday made him the fastest active player to reach 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) in a single post-season, and fastest among any player since Mario Lemieux in 1992.
“He’s willing to pay a price to win. He’s driven to win,” Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said. “He has an effect on everybody in our organization with that desire to take his game to the next level.
“The way his guy is playing right now, it’s special. He’s driving our team forward.”
Leon Draisaitl and defenceman Duncan Keith each had a goal and two assists and Evan Bouchard also scored for Edmonton.
After he was pulled early Calgary’s 9-6 win in Game 1, Oilers goaltender Mike Smith made 37 saves and assisted on Draisaitl’s insurance goal.
WATCH | Smith assists on Draisaitl’s goal:
Oilers goalie Mike Smith records assist on Leon Draisaitl’s breakaway goal
14 hours ago
Duration 1:02
Goalie Mike Smith gets the primary assist on Leon Draisailt’s goal to seal Edmonton’s 5-3 victory over Calgary in Game 2.
“Losses are no fun and wins are lots of fun,” McDavid said. “I thought we battled harder.
“Winning some 50-50 pucks. We didn’t win many in Game 1. I thought we did a good job of that. I thought we defended better. Still gave up some chances. Smitty played well.”
Michael Stone, Brett Ritchie and Tyler Toffoli scored for Calgary, which led 3-1 early in the second period.
Johnny Gaudreau had two assists. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom stopped 35 shots in the loss.
The best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal heads to Edmonton’s Rogers Place for Sunday’s Game 3 and Tuesday’s Game 4. The Oilers went 18-4-2 at Rogers Place over their final 24 games of the regular season.
Calgary (50-21-11) topped the Pacific Division ahead of runner-up Edmonton (49-27-6) in the regular season. The Alberta rivals are squaring off in the playoffs for a sixth time, but the first since 1991.
One of the NHL’s top teams five-on-five, the Flames were shorthanded for almost 11 minutes Friday. Edmonton scored its first power-play goal of the series midway through the second period to send the game into the third deadlocked 3-3.
“We missed a lot of opportunities,” Flames head coach Darryl Sutter said. “Markstrom was really, really good for us. Individual skill was what stood out tonight, and situations that they scored on. That’s hard to handle, but some of that is also not [playing] five-on-five.
“There was a four-on-four goal, a five-on-four goal, a five-on-four goal for us, shorthanded goal for them. If you’re not playing five-on-five, that’s definitely to their team’s advantage.”
Calgary’s offensive-zone turnover with a man-advantage turned into a shorthanded chance for Hyman in the third period.
WATCH | Hyman scores short-handed marker:
Zach Hyman’s shorty lifts Oilers over Flames in Game 2
15 hours ago
Duration 1:04
Zach Hyman’s short-handed goal in the third period is the game winner as Edmonton beats Calgary 5-3 to tie their second round series at 1-1.
After breaking his stick on Calgary’s first goal and having one of his own disallowed in the second, Hyman went upstairs on Markstrom at 10:14 for the game-winner.
“You’ve just got to keep working,” Hyman said. “It’s the playoffs. Doesn’t matter. All that matters is you get the win, right?”
Smith head-manned the puck to Draisaitl, who is playing through a lower-body injury, to score the insurance goal on another breakaway at 12:36.
Broken Oiler sticks contributed to a Flames goals in the first and second periods. Defenceman Darnell Nurse was hampered without his deep in Edmonton’s zone in the second.
Gaudreau threaded a pass to the crease for Elias Lindholm to flip to Toffoli, whose power-play goal at 2:04 gave Calgary a 3-1 lead.
Draisaitl’s goal at 2:31 of the second was waived off. Flames head coach Darryl Sutter successfully challenged goaltender interference by McDavid.
But McDavid scored a four-on-four goal seconds later to draw Edmonton within one.
He rolled off Calgary defenceman Nikita Zadorov into open ice, took a pass from Keith and stickhandled the puck by Markstrom’s outstretched pad at 3:05.
Bouchard pulled the Oilers even at 15:03 during Stone’s double minor for high-sticking.
After setting the record for the fastest two goals to start a playoff game in the series opener with a pair within 51 seconds, Calgary struck early again, 63 seconds after puck drop.
Edmonton, and Smith, recovered their composure faster than in Game 1, however.
Hyman celebrated a goal with just over four minutes left in the opening period, but officials waived it off. The whistle blew before the puck crossed the goal-line in a crease scramble.
Keith halved a two-goal deficit at 13:45. McDavid circling out from behind the net held off Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson with one arm and held the puck on his stick with the other.
McDavid shovelled a one-handed pass to Keith, who beat Markstrom far side.
The hosts led 2-0 at 6:02 when Smith bobbled an Erik Gudbranson shot. Ritchie pounced on the loose puck in the crease and put a backhand by the Oilers’ goalie.
Hyman broke his stick and wasn’t able to retrieve another from the bench before Stone’s slapshot from the point beat Smith bottom corner glove side at 1:03.
The Flames were minus top shutdown defenceman Chris Tanev for a third straight game. He was injured in Game 6 of Calgary’s first-round series against Dallas. Tanev skated in practice this week, but hasn’t dressed for games.
Calgary went 1-for-5 with a man advantage in the game, while the Oilers were 1-for-6.
EDMONTON – Teuvo Teravainen had two goals and two assists and Connor Bedard had a goal and two assists as the Chicago Blackhawks captured their first victory of the season, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Saturday.
Seth Jones also had a goal and two assists in his 800th career NHL game and Philipp Kurashev scored the other goal for the Blackhawks, who improved to 1-1-1 on the season.
Corey Perry and Leon Draisaitl scored for the Oilers, who fell to 0-2 to start the season on the heels of making it all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final last season before losing out to the Florida Panthers. Edmonton has been outscored 11-2 in its first two games.
Petr Mrazek had 35 saves in the Chicago net, while Calvin Pickard made 15 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Blackhawks: Former Oiler Taylor Hall now has eight points (2G, 6A) in 12 career games against the team that drafted him first overall in 2010, picking up an assist on Chicago’s first-period goal. There were four former first overall picks playing in the contest in Hall and Bedard for the Hawks and Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for Edmonton. Nugent-Hopkins picked up his 700th career point in the contest.
Oilers: Oilers defenceman and Edmonton-area product Brett Kulak suited up for his 500th career NHL game. The 30-year-old has been a mainstay since arriving from Montreal at the 2023 NHL trade deadline, playing in all 183 regular-season and 53 playoff games that he could. He has recorded an even 100 points in his career.
KEY MOMENT
The Blackhawks took a two-goal lead with six minutes to play in the middle frame as Bedard used a defender as a screen before ripping a perfect shot glove-side past Pickard for his first of the season.
KEY STAT
With his third period power-play goal, Oilers forward Draisaitl now has a 16-game point streak (13-18-31) against Chicago dating to Oct. 28, 2018 and passed teammate Connor McDavid (15-game streak versus New Jersey) for the NHL’s longest active point streak against one opponent.
UP NEXT
Blackhawks: Wrap up a four-game road trip in Calgary against the Flames on Tuesday.
Oilers: Host the Flames on Sunday in the third game of a season-starting four-game set at home.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.
CALGARY – Jonathan Huberdeau had two goals and two assists for the Calgary Flames in a 6-3 win in their home-opener over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
Nazem Kadri scored twice, including an empty-netter with MacKenzie Weegar and Mikael Backlund each contributing a goal for Calgary (2-0-0).
Flames goalie Dustin Wolf stopped 37 of 40 shots in his season debut.
Travis Konecny scored twice, including one short-handed, and Joel Farabee also had a goal for Philadelphia (1-1-0).
Flyers starter Ivan Fedotov made 27 saves in his first start of the season.
The Flyers played their second road game in as many nights to start their season after a 3-2 shootout win over the Canucks in Vancouver.
The Flames overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Canucks 6-5 in overtime to start their season Wednesday.
TAKEAWAYS
Flyers: Slow start after beating Vancouver in a shootout 24 hours earlier, but scored twice in the second period and trailed by a goal heading into the third.
Flames: Wolf was the difference early stopping all 18 shots he faced in the first period and 37 overall. Calgary’s first goal that deflected off Huberdeau’s shoulder was lucky, but the winger set up Weegar perfectly for a one-timer and a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, assisted on a pair of power-play goals and generated the Flames’ fifth goal.
KEY MOMENT
The Flames converted a five-on-three in the second period into Kadri’s power-play goal and a two-goal lead. Wolf reached back into his crease during a scramble to clear the puck and deny Konecny a potential equalizing goal midway through the third period.
KEY STAT
Philadelphia’s power play, which was the worst in the NHL last season, was 1-for-4 on Saturday and 2-for-8 after two games. Calgary’s went 2-for-5 to be 4-for-9 after two games.
UP NEXT
Flames: Finish a back-to-back weekend on Sunday in Edmonton against the Oilers.
Flyers: Follow the Flames into Edmonton on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – The Montreal Canadiens grabbed a 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Emil Heineman and Cole Caufield and went on to beat the Ottawa Senators 4-1 on Saturday at the Bell Centre.
After Alex Newhook boosted the Canadiens’ lead to 3-0 early in the third period, Tim Stutzle ended Sam Montembeault’s bid for a second consecutive shutout. Montembeault, who made 48 saves in a season-opening win over Toronto, made 24 saves.
Caufield completed the scoring with his second goal of the game and fourth of the season as the Canadiens improved to 2-1, while the Senators slipped to 1-1.
Montreal defenceman Mike Matheson was awarded a penalty shot when he was upended by Jake Sanderson on a rush to the net during a third-period power play. Linus Ullmark, who finished the game with 21 saves, got a piece of the shot which hit the post and went wide.
TAKEAWAYS
The Canadiens won the battle of special teams. Heineman scored a power-play goal with one second remaining in the advantage as Montreal went 1-for-4 with the extra man. Ottawa failed to score on four power plays and were held to three shots on goal.
KEY MOMENT
After facing only four shots in the first period, Montembeault was under pressure in the second period when the Senators outshot the Canadiens 12-3.
KEY STAT
The Canadiens have had one of the worst power plays in the NHL over the past three seasons and the outlook for this season wasn’t bright after the team went 0-for-30 in the pre-season. But Heineman scored his first NHL goal on a power play in the first period to give Montreal a power-play goal in each of its first three regular-season games.
UP NEXT
Senators: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Monday afternoon.
Canadiens: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2024.
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