Cam Talbot, Oilers defeat Flames in shootout

EDMONTON-- Leon Draisaitl and Mark Letestu scored in the shootout to give the Edmonton Oilers a 2-1 win against the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place on Saturday.
Cam Talbot made 24 saves and two in the shootout on Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau for his NHL career-best 22nd win of the season.
Pat Maroon scored with 3:36 left in the second period for Edmonton (23-15-7). Monahan scored 26 seconds later for Calgary (23-20-3), and Brian Elliott made 26 saves.

WATCH: All Flames vs. Oilers highlights
"Tight checking, very much playoff-like," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "Very little space on the ice for both teams. You really had to work hard to make the other team err, on both sides. Nice to win a different type of game."
Edmonton has won three games against Calgary this season and is four points ahead of the Flames in the Pacific Division.
"It was a tight game all the way through," Maroon said. "Nobody really had any chances. I thought the neutral zone was really clogged up. Our cycle game really wasn't there and neither was theirs. But we battled hard and we got the two points that we needed. That's huge."
Calgary lost 2-1 to the New Jersey Devils on Friday.

"I think, for a back-to-back, two teams that, if you look at our stats, are pretty equal, I thought we played a good road game," Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said. "I wasn't worried about our scoring. We'd like it to be nice and tight. Too bad we got a couple off the post that didn't go for us, and that's fine. I thought we had some odd-man rushes, we couldn't get things to go."
Gaudreau had a good opportunity a little more than three minutes into the third period on a 2-on-1 but was stopped by Talbot, then hit the post in the final minute of overtime.
"It was a lot more tight checking than the first couple of games we played against them to start the season (7-4; 5-3)," Talbot said. "That was more pond hockey and this was more of a playoff atmosphere. We knew neither team was going to budge much, and we got another greasy one from [Maroon] on the power play and we battled it out from there."

Goal of the game

Monahan tied the game on an individual effort. He brought the puck up the ice, flipped it into the Edmonton zone, and regained it when Oilers defenseman Matt Benning bobbled it. Monahan shot on Talbot then picked up the rebound to score.

Save of the game

Elliott made a pad save on a tip in front by Jordan Eberle with 50 seconds remaining in overtime.

Unsung performance of the game

Oilers rookie defenseman Matt Benning twice turned away Gaudreau on a 1-on-1.

Highlight of the game

Maroon gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead on the power play with his 18th goal of the season, seventh in his past six games, lifting a rebound at the side of the net over Elliott. It was Maroon's second power-play goal of the season.

They said it
"We have to keep climbing the standings. That was a playoff game tonight. It was playoff atmosphere. That's how games are going to be for the next two months and we have to find ways to play through it and battle." -- Oilers forward Pat Maroon
"Three-on-3 is tough against that team. They have the best guy in the League at that (Connor McDavid). Him and Johnny I think are one, two. His speed is pretty deadly out there." -- Flames captain Mark Giordano
"We can find a way to win different games. It was not a high offense game, but we found a way to get two points. That is good. I think we can win games 5-4 if we have to as well." -- Oilers captain Connor McDavid

Need to know

Talbot is 22-12-6; he won 21 games in each of the prior two seasons. … This was the first time since April 1, 2006 the Oilers and Flames played when both were in Stanley Cup Playoff position. … The Oilers have gone to overtime in seven of their past 13 games. … It was Calgary's first overtime game since Dec. 8.

What's next

Flames: Host the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Oilers: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Monday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-A+, NHL.TV)