GAME RECAP: Oilers 5, Flames 2

EDMONTON, AB - Welcome back to the Battle of Alberta, fans.
Connor McDavid recorded his 11th career hat trick on Saturday night at Rogers Place as fans of both sides of hockey's greatest rivalry were back in the stands at Rogers Place to witness the Oilers put five goals past their provincial rivals in a 5-2 victory over the Calgary Flames.
Mike Smith backstopped the Oilers strongly for the second-straight game with 45 saves on 47 shots, while Leon Draisaitl played the supporting role with three assists. Jesse Puljujarvi chipped in with a goal and two assists, and Derek Ryan scored his first goal in an Oilers uniform to open the scoring in the first period as the Oilers improved to 2-0 to begin the '21-22 NHL campaign.

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FIRST BLOOD

It took a slick bit of skill from Derek Ryan to put his first goal as an Edmonton Oiler past his former team and open up the scoring in Battle of Alberta.
With just under seven minutes left in the opening frame, Warren Foegele cut below the net and spun a shot back towards goal that struck Flames netminder Jacob Markstrom up high before Ryan showed great hand-eye coordination to bat the rebound out of mid-air and squeak it under the glove of Markstrom.
Foegele's assist was his first official point with the club, while Zack Kassian's secondary helper marked an early offensive return for the forward after missing Wednesday's Home Opener due to injury.

PLAY OF THE GAME

McDavid's been putting extra practice time into perfecting his one-timer, and it showed on Saturday. Last season's unanimous League MVP showcased the one-timer on the Oilers second power-play goal of the night when he ripped Darnell Nurse's feed under the arm of Markstrom.

SAVE OF THE GAME

If it wasn't for Markstrom sticking out the pad on Draisaitl in the final minute of the first, the battle could've been won in the opening period.
The German drove wide around the Flames defenceman and made a great move inside, cutting to the far post with 40.1 seconds on the clock and calling on the Flames crease protector to stretch out and make a crucial save when the Flames needed it.

TURNING POINT

After a tepid opening 10 minutes to the Battle of Alberta, the temperature began to rise in favour of the Blue & Orange. Tensions flared with six minor penalties in the final seven minutes of the first period, where both Ryan and McDavid found the net 4:21 seconds apart to put the Oilers ahead 2-0 before the first intermission.

TOP PERFORMER

The Captain loves putting pucks in the net against Edmonton's provincial rivals. Tonight, he added goals number 24, 25 & 26 all-time to his career goal total against the Flames -- 10 more than the next closest team on his list in the Vancouver Canucks.
In 31 career contests against Calgary in the regular season, McDavid has posted 26 goals and 17 assists for 43 points.

PARTING WORDS

Draisaitl on McDavid's one-timer goal tonight after calling it 'fluffy' during his Wednesday pre-game avail:
"I knew it was coming," he laughed. "That question had to come. If you watch the replay though, it was a little fluffy. It came off nice, but it was fluffy... It was a nice shot, I'll give him that; a pretty nice shot. Good for him."
McDavid on Draisaitl's comment that his one-timer in the second period was 'fluffy'
"Yeah, I think it rolled a little bit, but it was a nice pass from Doc and I was just trying to get good wood on it."
"I've probably never scored a goal from there like that; just a straight one-timer like that. But I definitely worked at it. It was a nice pass from Doc and I was just trying to get it there."

Puljujarvi on who has the better one-timer between McDavid and Draisaitl:
"Who has better?" he said, with Draisaitl waiting beside him in anticipation. "Connor," he said with a laugh.
"No, I think still Leon has it, but Connor is coming. It's coming."
Draisaitl on the resurgence of the Battle of Alberta tonight:
"These games are always fun," he said. "It's always fun to be a part of, especially against Calgary. Obviously, these (fans) make it a lot better and a lot more intense. It's great, it's a big win for us, and it's nice to go 2-0 to start the season. Obviously, we just have to keep it going."
Draisaitl on the immense play of Mike Smith in the Oilers crease to begin the season:
"He's been amazing," he said. "Obviously the last couple of years he's been great for us, and he showed that again tonight. He's our backbone back there, and obviously, it gives us a lot of confidence having him back there."

Foegele on his first regular-season experience in the Battle of Alberta:
"Yeah, I love it," he said. You can see outside (the Hall of Fame Room) here. This is crazy. This is passion and it's pretty exciting to be out there playing in front of loud fans. It was a lot of fun."
Head Coach Dave Tippett on the energy inside Rogers Place and the return of fans to the Battle of Alberta:
"Just way more emotion in the game, emotion in the players, the fans, and just the atmosphere in the building," he said. "It's a way better experience for everybody."
"It's just a good hockey game. I like emotion in the game, right? I don't think we have enough emotion in the game, so a little emotion, a little heart, Saturday night, and a couple of rivals. What's not to like about that?"
Tippett on the performance of the McDavid, Draisaitl and Puljujarvi line and the overall play of his team tonight:
"Calgary is a desperate team. They're coming in here and they're going to play desperate. They played really hard," he said. "They threw a lot of pucks at the net and made us defend, made us compete hard, and there were ebs and flows to the game. We capitalized on a couple of powerplays, which kind of pushed the game along for us, but they didn't quit."
"They got it to 3-2, and in the second period they were pushing pretty good. Hyman had a breakaway, then all of the sudden it comes back the other way... I thought after Jesse's goal, we played well. We kind of locked it down and didn't give up much after that."
Tippett on Rasmus Andersson's headbutt on Kailer Yamamoto in the first period in a scrum:
"I'm sure the League will look at it," he said. "I looked at it, and to me, it's a headbutt. But the League will look at it. It is what it is."
Foegele on getting his first point as an Oiler and the effectiveness of his line with Ryan and Kassian:
"Yeah, for sure," he said. "I thought we played north and played hard just trying to create energy for the team. I thought we had a good game."