Flames top Oilers, end seven-game losing streak

CALGARY --The Calgary Flames ended a season-long seven-game losing streak with a 3-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday.
Oilers forward Connor McDavid was held without a point to end a six-game point streak (seven goals, seven assists). He leads the race for the Art Ross Trophy with 103 points (41 goals, 62 assists), six points ahead of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who has 97 (38 goals, 59 assists).

Dougie Hamilton, Garnet Hathaway and Mikael Backlund scored, and Mike Smith made 34 saves for the Flames (36-33-10), who had lost seven straight games in regulation.
WATCH: [All Oilers vs. Flames highlights]
"To be honest, it was nice to play in a game like that again," Smith said. "It's been a long time since we felt an emotional engagement in a game and that's what the NHL is all about. It's about playing in games like that. It felt good to get the juices flowing again."
Anton Slepyshev and Michael Cammalleri scored, and Al Montoya made 13 saves in relief for the Oilers (34-39-6), who are on a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) after going 4-1-0 in their previous five games.
"One of those games, again, where one period cost us the game," Edmonton forward Milan Lucic said of Calgary's three goals on seven shots in the first period.
Slepyshev put Edmonton up 1-0 at 2:41 of the first period, and Hamilton tied the game 1-1 at 6:43 on Calgary's first shot. Hamilton leads NHL defensemen with 17 goals.
"Quick release," Smith said. "It comes on you in a hurry. He changes the angle really well. He's definitely got a good shot."

Hathaway scored shorthanded, his first goal in 42 games, on a shot from just inside the blue line at 11:54 to give the Flames a 2-1 lead.
"Guys were feeling like it's enough now," Backlund said. "We've got to find a way to win. Even though they score, that was the urgency to go, 'enough is enough … we have to get a win here.'"
Backlund made it 3-1 at 15:28. Montoya replaced starter Cam Talbot, who made four saves on seven shots.
"It wasn't his best night, that's pretty simply put," Edmonton coach Todd McLellan said. "If we could get one of them back, we'd take it. But he's been tremendous. In the last six weeks he's been a rock for our team. Tonight, he wasn't as sharp as I'm sure he'd like to be, but we count on him and we know he'll bounce back."
Cammalleri cut Calgary's lead to 3-2 at 12:41 of the second period when he tipped Andrej Sekera's point shot by Smith. The goal was Cammalleri's first in 33 games.
"A tale of two teams," Cammalleri said. "First period, not good, nothing to be proud of, second two probably more how we want to play."

Goal of the game

Backlund's goal at 15:28 of the first period.

Save of the game

Smith's save on Slepyshev at 18:59 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Hathaway's goal at 11:54 of the first period.

They said it

"It's been hard on our guys emotionally. I felt today they looked a little bit like themselves. That's what I felt this morning and that's what showed here in the game." -- Flames coach Glen Gulutzan
"We were happy with the start, getting the first goal, but we weren't happy with the next three. A couple of them were questionable where we could have defended better or got a save. That put us behind the 8-ball. We decided to play harder and compete a little bit more after the first." -- Oilers coach Todd McLellan

Need to know

Flames forward Spencer Foo played 12:45 and had one shot on goal in his NHL debut. … Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau returned after missing two games to be with his father, who had a cardiac event March 25. … Calgary's power play is 1-for-47 in the past 16 games. … Edmonton was 0-for-5 on the power play. … Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in his past 11 games, did not play because of a lower-body injury. ... Calgary is without forwards Sean Monahan (wrist, hip), Kris Versteeg (hip), Matthew Tkachuk (upper body), and defensemen TJ Brodie (upper body) and Travis Hamonic (upper body) because of injury.

What's next

Oilers:At the Minnesota Wild on Monday (8 p.m. ET; FS-N, SNW, NHL.TV)
Flames:Host the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)