Oilers hold off Flames rally in third

CALGARY --Jesse Puljujarvi scored twice and Laurent Brossoit made 29 saves to help the Edmonton Oilers to a 7-5 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday.
Jujhar Khaira, Mark Letestu, Milan Lucic, Patrick Maroon and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored for the Oilers (11-14-2), who have won three of their past four games and six straight against the Flames.

WATCH: [All Oilers vs. Flames highlights]
Maroon's goal 1:29 into the third period stood up as the game-winner; the Oilers held off a late charge from the Flames, who scored four goals in the third period to get within one.
Edmonton has won six straight games against Calgary. The Oilers swept the four-game season series last season and won 3-0 at Rogers Place on Oct. 4.
"The guys battled hard, and I thought that was the best 40 minutes the Edmonton Oilers played all year," Maroon said. "I'm proud of the guys that battled. Hopefully we're trending the right direction right now."

Sam Bennett had two goals, and Michael Frolik, Micheal Ferland and Johnny Gaudreau each had one for the Flames (14-11-1). Mike Smith made 22 saves and was pulled after the second period.
"What we really have to evaluate with our group is what emotional level are we at when we play big games," Calgary coach Glen Gulutzan said.
Maroon scored against David Rittich, who replaced Smith to start the third, to give Edmonton a 6-1 lead, but the Flames scored four goals in 7:15 to cut the lead to 6-5.
Bennett made it 6-2 with a sharp-angled shot at 5:04, and Ferland scored 3:09 later to make it 6-3. Bennett scored again at 11:39, and Gaudreau scored 41 seconds later from a sharp angle to make it 6-5.
"We started the game too hesitant," Bennett said. "We were just dipping our toes in the water and we didn't go after it. You could see in the third when we started to go after it we started to get goals and get better looks.
"They looked like the hungrier team to start the game, and that's what happened."

Nugent-Hopkins scored to end the rally and make it 7-5 at 18:59.
"We have to find a way to put teams away," he said. "There hasn't been a ton of games where we've been up, especially that much this season, but we still need to do a good job. Bottom line is we did come away with the victory, so you can't dwell on it too much. But we can learn a lot from that game."
Puljujarvi scored at 10:29 of the first period, and extended Edmonton's lead to 2-0 at 14:33 when Eric Gryba's point shot deflected off his shin pad after going through the hole in Mark Giordano's skate blade.
Frolik made it 2-1 with a shorthanded goal at 16:21. Khaira gave the Oilers a 3-1 lead when at 17:44.
Letestu put Edmonton up 4-1 on a shorthanded breakaway at 3:40 of the second period. Lucic deflected Gryba's point shot with 21.2 seconds left in the period to make it 5-1.
"What concerns me is with this group, on the mental side of the game, is that flight, fight or freeze mentality," Gulutzan said. "We seem to freeze a bit until something good happens and then we can start to move. That is something we've got to address."

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Goal of the game

Maroon's goal at 1:29 of the third period.

Save of the game

Brossoit against Gaudreau at 12:52 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Letestu's goal at 3:40 of the second period.

They said it

"I thought the first five minutes [of the third period] we were on them and got pucks in and got the forecheck, and then they got one, they got two, they got three, they got four. I don't know. My heart skipped a beat there for a second on the fifth goal. We got two points, and that's a huge sign for us. We scored seven goals. We just have to clean up the defensive zone, I guess." -- Oilers forward Patrick Maroon
"I think we're in our own head a little bit sometimes trying to play too safe and not make any plays at times. Mistakes are going to happen. We've got to live with them. When someone makes a mistake, we've all got to help out and play together." -- Flames captain Mark Giordano

Need to know

The win was Edmonton coach Todd McLellan's 400th in the NHL. … Oilers center Connor McDavid has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his past 10 games. … Rittich allowed two goals on six shots. … Bennett has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past three games. … The Flames haven't defeated the Oilers since a 5-0 win at Calgary on April 2, 2016.

What's next

Oilers: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday (9 p.m. ET; SN1, NBSCP, NHL.TV)
Flames: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, NBCSP+, NHL.TV)