GAME RECAP: Oilers vs. Flames (Preseason - Split Squad)

EDMONTON, AB – Let's call it square.

The Edmonton Oilers earned a 3-0 shutout victory over the Calgary Flames on the road at Scotiabank Saddledome, but were defeated 3-2 in overtime on home ice at Rogers Place as part of split-squad action on Sunday night against their provincial rivals to begin preseason.

"The preseason is when you're trying to get the guys to work hard and skate and play with a lot of pace," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "I thought for the most part, we did a pretty good job at that."

Forward Connor Clattenburg impressed again with a goal and a fight in Calgary, while Kasperi Kapanen and Riley Stillman both added goals in the victory. Oilers netminders Nathaniel Day and Samuel Jonsson combined for the shutout with 20 total saves in a composed performance from the two rookies.

In Edmonton, the Oilers outshot the Flames 30-14 over 60 minutes and received tallies from Darnell Nurse and Matvey Petrov, but it was Morgan Frost winning the contest for the visitors 1:07 into overtime with his second goal of the game after he and Joel Farabee scored 3:48 apart in the middle frame.

Goaltender Matt Tomkins, who was born and raised in Edmonton, played well in his first unofficial Oilers start with 11 saves.

"He played really well," Knoblauch said. "I know he didn't have many shots, but I think the quality of shots was high. That started with the breakaway save that he made about 30 seconds into the game, and I know he saved us big time at the end of the game to allow us to get to overtime."

The Oilers will continue their preseason with a road matchup against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night before hosting the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday in the second of back-to-back games.

FIRST PERIOD

EDMONTON

Matt Tomkins' first-ever save for the Oilers saw the 31-year-old netminder make a strong left-pad save to turn aside winger Joel Farabee on a breakaway in the first minute after defenceman Kevin Bahl made a strong half-ice pass from deep in the Calgary zone.

"That'll get you in the game quick," he said. "That was nice though. Sometimes, that's good just to get a touch early, and you never draw it up like that, but you'll take it as it comes as a goalie."

The Edmonton-born netminder signed a two-year contract with the Oilers this offseason to serve as the club's third option between the pipes behind another local product in Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard, and is projected to serve as the starter in the AHL with the Bakersfield Condors after spending the last two years in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization.

Tomkins had a 12-10-5 record with a 2.55 GAA and .907 SV% in 26 AHL starts for the Syracuse Crunch the previous year and most recently played six games in the NHL for the Lightning during the 2023-24 campaign (3-2-1, 3.33 GAA, .892 SV%).

"It was great. Just nice to be playing hockey again," Tomkins said. "An eager summer, ready to get going, and super excited about the opportunity here, so I just tried to take it all in and enjoy the game, and it's fun to be part of this group and the organization. Just really excited to get started with the year."

Another recent arrival in forward David Tomasek – for the first time in his career in North America – showed some of his professional quality as the points leader in the SHL last season with Färjestad BK on a line with two veterans in Mattias Janmark and Seth Griffith, side-stepping a Calgary defender with speed and ripping a hard shot on goal in the first few minutes of play in the opening frame.

"I think one of them I should have put it in. I didn't get the spot I wanted, but for me, I try to look at it as a good thing to get the shots, get in the chances, and keep trying to do it. Also, I'm happy for some defensive plays."

Tomasek said that Sunday's pre-season game was an important one for him to get adjusted to the size of the rink and to get the feel for the type of hockey he'll be playing for the first time in North America this season, particularly on the defensive side as a centre.

"I think there was a lot of good stuff," he said. "Obviously, in my mind, I had some moments, so I would have to see it more to review it more. But I think there were some solid defensive plays which I tried to focus on too, and as a centre, try to get used to the size of the rink and of the pace, which I thought was good.

Young forward Matt Savoie, another local product from St. Albert, certainly looks a step ahead from where he was during last year's pre-season, thanks to four games of NHL experience and a year spent seasoning in the AHL with Bakersfield.

The 21-year-old was alongside Vasily Podkolzin and Trent Frederic, two physical veterans who helped open up space for him to use his hands and speed to make a few scoring plays, including a look on Edmonton's first power play when Frederic was tripped up in front of the Calgary crease by Jan Kuznetsov. Savoie also earned time on the penalty kill, and Coach Knoblauch was impressed by his contributions.

"I thought he did a really good job," Knoblauch said. "It's a new system for all our players, not something that he did last year, but I think for him, he's a smart hockey player. He's very quick. On the penalty kill, you'd like to have a little more reach. That becomes beneficial at times, but he definitely has quickness and smarts."

Neither the Oilers nor the Flames were able to break through on their only power plays of the opening 20 minutes, while Edmonton looked the more dangerous side with a 9-3 advantage in shots.

CALGARY

The first 'clap' of the preseason goes to Kasperi Kapanen.

Kapanen didn't get an assist for the crucial battle along the boards he won against Connor Zary to relieve pressure in the defensive zone, but he finished the play at the other end after getting the puck back to Ty Emberson to start a quick passing sequence that resulted in the Oilers opening the scoring.

After Emberson passed it across to Brett Kulak, the Stony Plain product sent a pass through the middle to Isaac Howard coming across the Flames' blueline as he pulled a defenceman along with him in the process. The 2025 Hobey Baker Award winner with Michigan State then sauced it behind his D-man to catch Kapanen flying up the ice to come in alone and sneak his shot under goalie Devin Cooley's left arm for the 1-0 advantage 2:38 into the period.

Howard's helper was only a small sample of the 21-year-old's skillset, which includes his speed and tenacity on the forecheck that resulted in him taking a tripping penalty with under five minutes to go in the frame – not for the lack of trying to make a play in his first pre-season game wearing Blue & Orange.

The Oilers led 1-0 at the end of a much more even first frame in Cowtown.

SECOND PERIOD

EDMONTON

The Oilers continued to put pucks on net with 12 shots during the middle frame of Sunday's contest at Rogers Place, but despite their best chances not resulting in goals, the Oilers found twine with a pair of fortunate tallies from Darnell Nurse and Matvey Petrov that nullified some efficient scoring from the Flames to make it 2-2 after 40 minutes.

Nurse broke the deadlock in Edmonton at 16:14 of the frame with an unassuming wrist shot through traffic from high in Calgary's zone that got through netminder Ivan Prosvetov to make it 1-0 for the Oilers.

Edmonton would head to the power play for a second time, but after a strong kill from the Flames, it was Morgan Frost who found the back of the net for the Flames on a turnaround effort from the slot that nestled inside the far post to equalize 1-1 just 15 seconds after Ryan Lomberg got out of the box.

Calgary made it 2-1 less than four minutes later on their own man advantage when centre Rory Kerins picked out Joel Farabee at the back post with a terrific cross-ice dish to help give the visitors the lead despite being heavily outshot in the middle frame.

It looked like the Flames were going to escape to the intermission with the lead, but another fortunate bounce for the Oilers – created off a strong forecheck from the line of Brady Stonehouse, Viljami Marjala and Matvey Petrov – led to Stonehouse putting a long shot towards goal that ended up below the goal line for Petrov to pick up and bank in off the skate of Prosvetov.

The Russian winger is preparing for his third season in Bakersfield and is looking to break out after posting nine goals and seven assists in 50 AHL games in 2024-25, and more efforts like his line's work to make it 2-2 will result in more scoring opportunities for the former 50-goal scorer in the OHL with North Bay.

CALGARY

Meanwhile, in Calgary, the offence from the Oilers and Flames wasn't as free-flowing as what we were seeing in Edmonton.

Shots were 18-16 for the Oilers, and the score remained 1-0 for the Blue & Orange after 40 minutes, with minimal scoring chances in either direction with exception of a power-play opportunity for each side that didn't result in any scoring.

Goaltender Samuel Jonsson started the night in goal for the Oilers and finished with 12 saves after being replaced by Nathaniel Day, who kept the clean sheet intact through 40 minutes with four more saves as the two rookies attempted to pitch a combined pre-season shutout.

Heading into the final frame, both sides were looking to turn the momentum in the other direction offensively, but the Oilers were the ones who would double their lead thanks to one of their standout performers so far throughout Rookie Camp and Main Camp.

THIRD PERIOD

EDMONTON

Tomkins made another vital save on Brayden Pachal with a lunging stop to deny the winger's one-timer early in the third period – one of only three shots for the Flames in the final frame.

The Oilers netminder was beaten by Ryan Lomberg not long after, but he & his team would be bailed out by the officials when his wrist shot from the slot was waved off for goaltender interference committed by centre Martin Pospisil while battling in the blue paint with Jake Walman, stopping him from getting his blocker out to make the potential save.

Walman rattled the post seven-and-a-half minutes into the third from distance that led to Prosvetov spreading out along the ice to try and find a puck he couldn't see, but it'd eventually be cleared from the net-front area to escape danger for the Flames.

Later in the period, Vasily Podkolzin made a fantastic solo rush around two Calgary players and tried his luck from a tight angle with a shot that hit the crossbar and went out the other side, coming close again for the Oilers as they finished regulation with a 30-14 shot advantage.

Lomberg struck the post late for the Flames as well, leading to Tomkins having to react quickly to a loose puck by jamming his right pad to the post to stop Pospisil on what would've likely been a late winner for Calgary with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation.

Despite allowing three goals on 14 shots on Sunday in Edmonton, Coach Knoblauch was very impressed with Tomkins' performance.

"If you looked at the scoresheet and didn't see any of the game, you'd probably say 'Three goals against on 14 shots, probably wasn't that good of a night'. But no, he made some big saves. There were very few easy ones for him. So I thought he was good."

Bonus hockey was on the horizon in Edmonton as we headed to overtime, but the Oilers were taking care of business down Highway 2.

CALGARY

Connor Clattenburg continues to impress in every facet at Oilers Camp.

The former captain of the OHL's Flint Firebirds wants to lead by example and step up for his teammates in any way possible, giving his side the 2-0 advantage over the Flames at 8:18 of the period before dropping the gloves with Nick Cicek less than three minutes later to put his stamp on the victory.

Clattenburg sniped an unassisted marker over the shoulder of Cooley with a wicked release to double Edmonton's lead before the midway mark, and the 20-year-old used his hands differently by fighting Cicek to finish his Sunday stat line with a goal and a fight for the second time across Rookie & Main Camp.

The 6-foot-2, left-shot forward is entering his first full professional season in 2025-26 after garnering one game of pro experience last year with the Condors following Flint's elimination from the OHL playoffs, and it's a good bet that he's going to thrive in the physical environment of the AHL.

Defenceman Riley Stillman made it 3-0 two-and-a-half minutes later, blasting a heavy shot from the top of the left circle that gave Edmonton breathing room, and all that was left for them to do was secure the shutout for their goalies Nathaniel Day and Samuel Jonsson.

The two rookies would combine to make 20 saves for the shutout in their pre-season debuts – both looking composed and comfortable as they look to leverage those performances into more opportunities over Edmonton's remaining six exhibition contests before entering the pro ranks full-time this season.

OVERTIME

EDMONTON

Back in Edmonton, we still had some overtime hockey left to play, and the Flames would get some revenge for their teammates down south.

Forward Morgan Frost snuck the winner through Tomkins' left arm to win the contest 3-2 for the Flames at 1:07 of extra time, with Dryden Hunt and Kevin Bahl getting the helpers to split the results down the middle in Sunday's split-squad action.

Tomkins only faced 14 shots over the course of 60 minutes, but faced plenty of high-danger chances that he acquitted himself well on as he tried to remain ready when the time arose for him to make a stop, but unfortunately, he couldn't stop Frost's shot from trickling through to give Calgary the win.

"It was a little bit interesting with the flow of the game and not a ton of shots like you said, he said. "So a little bit difficult. Especially in the first game, you want to touch the puck a lot. But like I said, as a goalie, you can't really control that. So you take what you can get and try and stay ready. Sometimes, there are really good opportunities that don't end up on the net. But you still have to be there and be ready for it."

The Oilers will continue preseason on Tuesday against Winnipeg in the first of back-to-back tune-ups before returning home to host Seattle on Wednesday.