GAME STORY: Flames 5, Oilers 2

EDMONTON, AB -Round three of the Battle of Alberta goes to the Calgary Flames as Mikael Backlund, Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Mark Giordano each recorded a goal and an assist in a 5-2 decision.
Jesse Puljujarvi recorded his first multi-point night of the season while Mikko Koskinen turned aside 28 shots in the loss. Flames netminder David Rittich made 21 saves for his 18th victory of the season.
Both teams exchanged a number of chances on the power play as Edmonton had six opportunities - while scoring on one - while Calgary went 2-for-7 on the man advantage.
"They capitalized on their chances and we didn't," said Leon Draisaitl post-game. "We didn't generate too much, we didn't really create too many chances for ourselves. We hung in there for a while, but you're not going to beat a team like that playing half the game."
"We were too casual. We have to be a lot better."
With the loss, the Oilers record falls to 23-22-3 on the season, as the team remains two points out of the final Western Conference Wild Card spot.

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WHAT'S NEXT
The Oilers play in the second half of a back-to-back as they host the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. The game can be seen on Sportsnet ONE and heard on the Oilers Radio Network, including 630 CHED. Puck drop is 7:38 p.m. MST.
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"We tried to force things in the first two periods and got caught flat-footed," said Oilers Head Coach Ken Hitchcock. For us to play in this atmosphere, we have got to be air-free. I thought we played hard but we made too many errors.
"We made too many errors with the puck that forced us into tough situations."
Koskinen was tested early and often in tonight's contest as the Oilers netminder was required to make some key saves early on in the hockey game.
Just 9:20 into the first period, Flames centre Sean Monahan was sprung on a breakaway, opting to make a move to his backhand before being denied by the left pad of Koskinen. Monahan had a point in five straight road games and 19 points (5G, 14A) in his last 12 overall coming into tonight's match.
The Calgary Flames had the game's first opportunity with the man-advantage as Zack Kassian was called for boarding Mark Giordano in the offensive zone. The Flames power play - operating at a 50% clip in its last seven games (6-0-1 during that stretch) - failed to beat Koskinen with James Neal getting the game's best chance early with two quality looks in the slot.
Shortly after, the Flames found themselves on a man advantage once again, as the Oilers were called for too many men on the tail end of their own power play. Koskinen was required to come up big once again as he showed great puck awareness after taking a Johnny Gaudreau shot up high. In a marvelous effort, he corralled the puck behind his back with the glove to keep the puck from crossing the goal line. Koskinen turned aside seven shots on the power play in the first period, while the Flames led the overall shot clock 14-6 after 20 minutes.

Crafty. Shifty. Speedy. Words that the Oilers used to describe the NHL's second leading scorer as Gaudreau drew first blood with the game's opening goal. 'Johnny Hockey' exemplified all of the aforementioned traits just 47 seconds into the middle frame as the Flames winger beat out two Oilers defenders before sniping his 29th goal of the season through the five-hole of Koskinen.
With the goal, Gaudreau extended his point streak to 11 games with 10 goals and 13 assists over that span. He became the third Flames player since 1994-95 to have a point streak of at least 11 games.
"He's elite. We're blessed in our league with the quality of players that we have," said Calgary Flames Head Coach Bill Peters post-game. "We're blessed in the province of Alberta with the stars that we have on our respective teams. It was fun game to be a part of."
After the Oilers failed to capitalize on a four-minute double minor on Mark Giordano, the defenceman found himself on the scoresheet once again - but this time in the goal column. The 6-foot-1 rearguard put home his 11th of the season on a goalmouth scramble on the Flames power play. With the primary assist on the play, Sean Monahan extended his personal point streak to five games.
With just 4:30 to go in the second period, the Flames added another as Oliver Kylington found a soft spot behind the Edmonton defence and made good on a nifty pass from Mikael Backlund. Kylington's marker - which found its way through the wickets of Koskinen - was the second goal of his NHL career (25 games).
As the Oilers looked to be heading to the locker room down three, a fantastic give-and-go play between Jesse Puljujarvi and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins resulted in the Oilers first goal of the hockey game. Nugent-Hopkins beat David Rittich clean on the blocker side for his 16th goal of the season; the centreman also extended his point streak to four games and now has nine points (2G, 7A) in his last 7 games. Puljujarvi's assist was his fourth helper of the season.
"Our play wasn't good enough and that's what got us into a 3-0 hole," said Milan Lucic after the game. "A really good play at the end of the second to give us some momentum going into the intermission and a lot to look forward to going into the third. We had chances at times, especially in the second period, to get ourselves back in it within a goal. It ended up being too big of a hole to climb out of.
"It's unfortunate, I don't think our heads as a group was in the right spot until the start of the third and we get nothing out of it."

Early in the third period, the Oilers found themselves on their sixth power play of the night. While Calgary had an incredible opportunity to extend the lead to three once more, Koskinen made a dazzling stop with an incredible second effort. Derek Ryan picked off Draisaitl's pass and found himself all alone before being denied by a sprawling Koskinen with the glove.
Just 40 seconds later, Jesse Puljujarvi's shot off the half-wall was deflected home by Milan Lucic for his fifth goal of the season and fourth of 2019. With his second helper of the night, Puljujarvi recorded the third multi-assist game of his career.
Hitchcock on Puljujarvi's night: "He had a good night, he played hard. He wanted the puck and he played with confidence and that's a good sign."
However, that was as close as the Oilers would get as Mikael Backlund recorded his 11th goal of the season on an insurance marker with 5:45 remaining before Sean Monahan put the final nail in the coffin. Monahan's 27th of the season was the Flames' second powerplay tally of the night as the Oilers drop round three of the Battle of Alberta by a final score of 5-2.
Edmonton won't have much time to sit on tonight's loss as they get back into action against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday night at Rogers Place. Puck drop is slated for 7:38 p.m. MT.