Oilers win in shootout, defeat Flames for seventh straight time

EDMONTON --Brandon Davidson scored two goals, and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Calgary Flames 4-3 in a shootout at Rogers Place on Thursday.
It was the seventh straight time the Oilers have defeated the Flames, including three this season. The last time Calgary won was April 2, 2016, 5-0 at Rexall Place.

WATCH: [All Flames vs. Oilers highlights]
Michael Cammalleri and Connor McDavid scored in the shootout for Edmonton (22-24-3), which has won four of five (4-1-0). Zack Kassian scored, and Cam Talbot made 34 saves.
"I didn't feel great in the first period, it took me a little while to get my feet going," said Davidson, who was a healthy scratch the previous five games. "It had been a month since I had played, and I just wanted to keep getting better every shift. It was a lucky sling to the net that got that first goal and it really boosted my confidence. From there, I was able to do my thing and I had a lot of fun out there. It was a good win for our team and it was great to contribute."

Matthew Tkachuk scored two goals, and then had the only goal for Calgary in the shootout.
Mark Giordano scored for the Flames (25-16-8), who lost their fourth straight game but extended their point streak to 11 (7-0-4). Mikael Backlund had two assists, and David Rittich made 34 saves.
"It's so disappointing. It's just like the snowball effect of the second period, it's like they have nothing and then we give them a little bit of life and they're a good team," Tkachuk said. "Their record doesn't show it, but they are. They've got some high-end players that when they're feeling confident they can take over games."
Tkachuk scored at 1:32 of the first period to give Calgary a 1-0 lead on its first shot of the game.
Giordano scored at 14:21 on a long point shot through traffic for a 2-0 lead.
"I thought we played good through 30 minutes, being up 2-0, but the first goal they got, that gave them a little bit of a spark and we fed them a little bit at the end," Flames coach Glen Guluztan said. "We talked about not going east-west here tonight and we fed them a little bit, then they got their second and they got some momentum. Then the building came alive and I think in the first 30 it wasn't."

Davidson scored at 13:50 of the second period to make it 2-1 on a shot from the left face-off circle. It was his first goal of the season.
Kassian tied the game 2-2 at 14:54 on a rebound off a shot from Leon Draisaitl.
Davidson gave the Oilers a 3-2 lead at 5:16 of the third period. He took a pass from Ryan Strome in the slot and beat Rittich through a screen in front.
Tkachuk tied it 3-3 at 7:50 on a cross-crease pass from Backlund.
Strome appeared to win it for Edmonton at 1:16 of overtime when he scored on the rebound of a McDavid shot, but the goal was overturned because McDavid's skate made contact with Rittich's stick before the puck was in the net.
"I think both teams were off the ice and didn't know it was under video review," McDavid said. "That's the way it goes sometimes. I thought we did a good job responding afterwards, and [Talbot], we gave up a bunch of chances and he was great as always."

Goal of the game

Davidson's goal at 5:16 of the third period.

Save of the game

Talbot's save on Mark Jankowski at 3:51 of overtime.

Highlight of the game

McDavid's shootout goal.

They said it

"[Tkachuk] was huge for us in lots of ways. Two big goals, emotional and the shootout goal. Really, I don't think there was much more he could do." -- Flames coach Glen Gulutzan

"It was a tremendous game for him. He's been waiting, and getting the opportunity with [Adam] Larsson's issue, it affected our lineup late. It created a play seven defensemen scenario and we weren't sure how much he was going to play. We went into the game and he increased his opportunity as the night went on. He played tremendously physically, he defended well and had a good stick." -- Oilers coach Todd McLellan on Brandon Davidson

Need to know

Tkachuk has four two-goal games this season. … Edmonton was 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. It was the first time since a 3-2 win against the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 21 that they did not give up a power-play goal at home.

What's next

Flames: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)
Oilers:Host the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, ALT, NHL.TV)