Smith, Oilers slip by Flames

In Calgary, the battle for Alberta got underway with the Flames hosting the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night.

Mike Smith made 20 saves to help the Oilers to a 2-1 win.

“Trending in the right direction,” Oilers head coach Dave Tippett said. “Our team, we’re starting to, you jell, there’s certain things you want your team to do in certain situations and we’re starting to acknowledge those things a lot more, playing kind of the right way at the right times in games.”

Rasmus Andersson picked up the only goal for the Flames.

“We’ve got more to give, for sure,” Flames head coach Geoff Ward said. “It was a step in the right direction but we can still be better.”

Jesse Puljujarvi put the Oilers up 1-0 in the first period.

“He’s a good player,” Tippett said. “We saw that early. He wasn’t getting rewarded but he’s a threat out there. He gets himself into scoring position and they start going in for him, and he is a real good player and he’s a dangerous player, but he’s a successful dangerous player when they go in for him.”

Gaetan Haas pushed the lead to 2-0 in the middle frame.

“Everybody on this team wants to help those guys,” Haas said. “We’re just happy if we can do it. It’s always great if we can make some goals and let them a little bit free for a night.”

Smith is 4-0-0 since getting into the lineup.

“He had the one tough night, but other than that, he’s been really solid, solid again tonight too,” Tippett said. “We’re a team that we need both guys and up and going, and now with ‘Smitty’ back it looks like he’s playing real well, and [Mikko Koskinen] will get back in there and he’ll play real well, and I think they’ll be a real good asset for our team.”

Calgary dropped to 8-8-1.

“Somehow we still have to find a way to score the first goal and play with the lead and take it from there,” Andersson said. “I mean, we’re chasing the game, and they go 2-0 and then it’s 2-1 and then we’re chasing in the entire third period. You’re not going to win a whole lot of games when you’re chasing from behind the whole time.”

David Rittich made 23 saves in the loss.