In Edmonton, the Oilers hosted the Heritage Classic for 2023 at Commonwealth Stadium on Sunday, and five different skaters scored for a 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames.
Connor McDavid returned to the lineup after missing two games for an injury.
“I’ve said this every day, our staff is so good here in Edmonton from the top down,” McDavid said. “It was comfortable at all points of the game.
“Obviously this was a big win for our group, we needed it. This was a big game for us if it was indoors or outdoors, so for us to get a win in front of all of our fans with the big spectacle, it made it even better.”
Brett Kulak and Zach Hyman scored in the first period to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead.
“We sat back a little bit, gave them a little too much respect with the players they have, with Connor coming back and all that,” Calgary captain Mikael Backlund said. “But when we started playing the way we can at the end of the first period and the beginning of the second, I think we were a better team.”
Stuart Skinner made 24 saves in the win.
“Anytime you see your captain, or the head of our snake, return to the lineup, that gives everybody a little bit of a lift,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. “I thought he played his heart out tonight. It’s a different type of game, the ice isn’t normally what it is, but I thought he was dangerous every shift. He pushes teams back with his speed and I thought we had a lot of really good signs in his game.”
The win ended a four-game skid for the Oilers.
Nazem Kadri cut the Oilers lead to 2-1 on a 5-on-3 power play in the first.
“I think they kind of outplayed us in the first 10 minutes and scored a couple of goals there, and we were chasing,” Kadri said. “Especially when you’re playing against dangerous players, you have five-, 10-minute lapses and it’s a goal against.”
The Oilers replied just 11 seconds later with a goal from Evan Bouchard for a 3-1 lead after one period.
The Flames’ A.J. Greer scored at 14:41 of the middle frame to trim the deficit back down to one at 3-2.
Vincent Desharnais scored his first NHL goal at 6:16 of the third to push the Oilers back in front by two, 4-2.
“I am very, very happy for Vinny,” Kane said. “Nobody realized it was his first goal. Hopefully we got the puck for him.”
Evander Kane hit an empty net with 47 seconds left on the game clock for the 5-2 final.
“I thought we got back to our foundation of how we like to play and how we need to play,” Kane said. “I thought we skated really well.
“We were physical and if you look at the goals we scored, every single one of them was around their blue paint or creating havoc around their blue paint. That is a recipe for success for our group.”
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Jacob Markstrom made 29 saves in the Flamews loss.
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