GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Flames 1 (Preseason)

EDMONTON, AB – Roll on the regular season.

The Edmonton Oilers finished the perfect preseason with a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames in the Battle of Alberta on Saturday at Rogers Place, receiving a goal & assist from Kasperi Kapanen, two assists from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and 23 saves from Devon Levi in the victory to finish 4-0-0 in exhibition action.

Zach Hyman opened the scoring on the power play in the first period before Connor McDavid and Ryan Shea added tallies in the middle frame to have the Oilers ahead for good, up 3-0, while Levi remained unbeaten through two periods with 16-of-16 saves.

After Matt Coronato spoiled the shutout past the nine-minute mark of the final frame, Kapanen got it right back for the Oilers on a breakaway only 1:46 later, with Nugent-Hopkins picking up his second of two assists by picking up the secondary helper on Edmonton's fourth and final marker.

The Oilers will look to carry their pre-season performance into the start of meaningful hockey when they host the Vancouver Canucks in their season opener on Tuesday at 7:00 PM MT at Rogers Place.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Dustin Wolf's efforts in the opening frame were critical to keeping the Oilers from capitalizing on their 7-0 shot advantage in the first 13 minutes, with the Flames netminder making his biggest early intervention by getting his glove to a quick backhand chance from Leon Draisaitl in the slot to deny the German.

But with a nearly full-strength squad for the Oilers being dressed on Saturday, that meant a look for their top-unit power play when Kevin Bahl tripped up Kasperi Kapanen along the benches in the final four minutes of the first period, and it took some efficient work from them to score 23 seconds into the man advantage.

Connor McDavid carried the puck down and through the left circle and found Zach Hyman in front to push the opening goal through the five-hole of Wolf, marking the winger's second goal of the preseason.

Evan Bouchard collected his sixth assist in his third exhibition appearance to help the Oilers lead 1-0 at the first intermission, but not before some solid contributions from Devon Levi at the other end of the ice for Edmonton.

Levi's first bit of work arrived with 5:49 left in the frame, and the 24-year-old needed to be sharp to get his left skate to a tricky shot along the ice from Simon Nemec – turning aside the former New Jersey Devils defenceman's shot as part of five saves on the last six shots in the period in favour of the Flames.

Levi put together another solid showing between the pipes for the Oilers and mentioned he's feeling comfortable with how well the defence's playing in front of him.

"I felt pretty solid," he said. "I feel like the games we played really well in, we've been super solid defensively. Just getting used to the systems, getting used to seeing kind of how the game opens up, and I have to say, it was pretty. A pretty readable game tonight from the boys."

An early too-many-men call to the Oilers 14 seconds into the middle frame gave their penalty kill its first chance to stop the Flames, limiting them to a single shot on goal while their rivals pushed them in search of a quick response early in the period.

Past the midway mark of the frame, it was Connor McDavid who'd get on the board for a second time this preseason with the cap on a terrific passing play off the rush that began with Mattias Ekholm offloading a pass to Vasily Podkolzin on the zone entry and carrying his drive towards Calgary's crease to open up space for his captain.

Ekholm marked his first and only pre-season appearance this month with an assist later in the third period on Kasperi Kapanen's tally, but the Swedish blueliner earned an honourary helper when Podkolzin dished it off to Draisaitl, who then found McDavid inside the right circle for a deadly one-timer that Wolf couldn't keep out.

Just over six minutes later, defenceman Ryan Shea took his turn scoring a beauty with his second goal of the preseason on a one-timer that made it 3-0 for the Oilers.

Kapanen took an offensive-zone faceoff on the second line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman, and after wheeling his way around the Calgary zone on the next sequence, the Finnish forward put a pass onto the tape of Shea coming over the blueline for the 29-year-old to blast past the glove of Wolf with 6:34 left in the frame.

Kapanen's assist on Shea's tally was his first of two points on the night, joining Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with an assist on the play, before taking off to sneak another past Wolf on a breakaway just 1:46 after the Flames pulled a goal back through Matt Coronato.

Calgary cashed in on their second power play near the midway mark, but it took less than two minutes for Kapanen to get loose on a breakaway in a four-on-four scenario and attempt to slide it back across Wolf before it slowly trickled across the goal line.

Kapanen's goal and assist were enough for a first-star performance on Saturday and capped off a strong preseason by the winger as he looks to continue holding down a place in Edmonton's top-nine forwards, with room for him to grow.

"I feel pretty fresh out there, and I think it shows," Kapanen said. "I know it's only a pre-season game, but if I can play that way throughout the season, I think I can help this team out a lot.

Forward Owen Michaels remains a part of Edmonton's roster in the late stages of Training Camp, and his utility as a right-shot centre earned him the assignment from Head Coach Mike Babcock in taking some defensive draws during the third period.

"Just kind of focusing on taking everything one day at a time and trying to get better," Michaels said. "I think things have been going well, and I've been improving every day. It's been a great opportunity to kind of learn from everyone in the organization, and it's been a lot of fun."

The 24-year-old signed a two-year contract with the Oilers earlier this summer after his one-year entry-level contract with the club last season saw him spend extended time with the club despite not appearing in a game after winning a national championship with Western Michigan.

"It was a great opportunity, and I had great conversations with everyone in the organization leading up to the decision to sign with the organization. It's been a blast so far. It's been awesome to kind of be here and learn from everyone, and hopefully, I can continue to do that."

Levi finished with eight saves during the third period, helping the Oilers cap off a perfect preseason (4-0-0) with a 4-1 victory over their Alberta rivals as they set their sights on Tuesday's home opener against the Vancouver Canucks.