In Edmonton, the Oilers’ Connor McDavid scored a hat trick and Edmonton extended the season opening woes of the Calgary Flames in a 5-2 win.
The Flames have now list 12 straight season openers.
Mike Smith made 45 saves in the win.
“Calgary is a desperate team, they’re going to play really hard, they threw a lot of pucks at the net, made us defend and made us compete hard,” Oilers head coach Dave Tippett said. “There were ebbs and flows in the game, we capitalized on a couple of power plays that pushed the game along, but they didn’t quit. In the second period they were pushing pretty good, but I thought after Jesse’s goal we kind of locked it down and didn’t give them much after that.”
Andrew Mangiapane and Elias Lindholm were the Flames’ strikers.
“I thought 5-on-5 we were pretty strong, we did a lot of things we wanted to do, especially in our own zone,” Flames head coach Darryl Sutter said. “I thought a couple of penalties, a double minor and tripping penalty, they scored on both of those, and they were momentum shifts.”
Derek Ryan scored in the first period to give the Oilers an early 1-0 lead.
“I thought we came out a little slow and they were scoring on their power play,” Mangiapane said. “They obviously have a good power play. I think 5-on-5 it went pretty decent. We just have to come out a little better and maybe it’s a little different tonight.”
Jesse Puljujarvi had a goal and three points on the night for the Oilers.
Jacob Markstrom made 28 saves in the loss.
“I thought we were playing really good, then there is one that hits bodies and it goes in the net,” Markstrom said. “When we make it 3-2, I thought we were taking over the game, and then right after, that’s a tough one to let in, the 4-2 goal when I felt we were taking over the game, and it gave them a two-goal cushion again.”
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