Flames shut out Oilers, move within two points of third in Pacific

CALGARY -- Mike Smith made 28 saves, and the Calgary Flames moved within one point of third place in the Pacific Division with a 1-0 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday.
Johnny Gaudreau scored for the Flames (35-26-10), who are within two points of the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars for each wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
The Flames trail the third-place Los Angeles Kings by two points in the Pacific Division following the Kings' 4-3 shootout loss at the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday.

WATCH: [All Oilers vs. Flames highlights]
"Everyone's keeping a close eye on it, but we've just got to keep cruising along here," said Smith, who earned his third shutout this season and 36th in his NHL career. "We have to look after what we can control, and that's us. Everyone's scoreboard watching, but in the end it's about what we're doing and we can kind of control our own destiny. Just one game at a time here."
Cam Talbot made 31 saves for the Oilers (30-35-4), whose three-game winning streak ended.
"[Smith] played a (heck) of a game," Talbot said. "We just couldn't get one past him tonight. Usually when you only give up one you're in pretty good business, but we couldn't get one by him tonight."

Gaudreau gave the Flames a 1-0 lead when he took a pass from Sean Monahan and chipped a backhand over Talbot at 5:18 of the second period. Gaudreau has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a five-game point streak, and 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists) in his past 21 games.
"Quick backhand," Talbot said. "That's the kind of guy you don't want in a situation like that. He's got some of the best hands in the League in tight situations. You give him that much time and space out front and you're going to have to make a great save, and I wasn't able to do that. I thought I came up with a lot of big ones, but couldn't match Mike."
Smith made a glove save on Ryan Strome at 15:58, and a stick save on Anton Slepyshev with 35 seconds remaining in the period. Smith also denied Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with his right pad on a setup by Connor McDavid at 3:27 of the third period. He made a save against McDavid in close off the rush at 4:14.
"In a one-goal game you want to keep the lead, obviously, and not give that up," Smith said. "It's cliché, every goalie says it; worry about one save at a time. You're just trying to make that big save at the right time, and fortunately tonight I was able to do that."

Goal of the game

Gaudreau's goal at 5:18 of the second period.

Save of the game

Smith's save against Strome at 15:58 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Smith's save against Nugent-Hopkins at 3:27 of the second period.

They said it

"We knew we were going to get a desperate team that needs every point possible. You could see at the very end guys laying down and blocking shots. We knew we were going to get their best tonight, and they got a really good game from us as well. It was a good old-fashioned 'Battle of Alberta,' but we came out on the wrong end of this one." -- Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot
"We have a lot of good veteran leaders in here. It's reality to where we are in the season right now and how important every guy is on our team. Tonight it starts with me, but tonight was a big win for our team. More importantly, we played as a team and everyone bought into what we were trying to accomplish, and in the end it worked out." -- Flames goaltender Mike Smith

Need to know

With his goal, Gaudreau has 80 points for the first time in his NHL career. … Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk did not play because of an upper-body injury and is day to day. … McDavid's seven-game point streak ended. He had 13 points (six goals, seven assists). … Oilers forward Mike Cammalleri played his 900th NHL game.

What's next

Oilers: Host the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; SN1, SNW, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)
Flames: Host the San Jose Sharks on Friday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)