GAME STORY: Oilers 2, Flames 1

CALGARY, AB - The Battle of Alberta is back to even.
Jesse Puljujarvi and Gaetan Haas scored while Mike Smith made 20 saves against his former team as the Oilers edged the Flames 2-1 in the second provincial rivalry game of the season.

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FIRST BLOOD

Just past the five-minute mark of the opening frame, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins dropped the puck back to Darnell Nurse at the point, and he zipped a pass just inside the blueline over to Tyson Barrie, who dangled around Milan Lucic, cut wide and found Puljujarvi alone in front of the net for a five-hole marker on David Rittich for his fifth goal of the season and fifth in the last seven games.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Perfect passing and a fantastic finish from the Finn give Puljujarvi's opening goal the top play honour. The young power forward played 14:23 on Friday, recording two hits and two blocked shots on top of his goal.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Mike Smith's best save of the night came on one of the first shots he faced with just under four minutes to go in the opening period. Matthew Tkachuk sent Andrew Mangiapane in alone on the Oilers netminder but the wily veteran stood his ground and denied the point-blank attempt to keep the score 1-0 for the visitors at the time.

TURNING POINT

The Oilers scored the eventual game-winning goal with 2:05 to go in the middle frame as Alex Chiasson found James Neal streaking down the left side and the veteran winger passed it to Haas cutting to the net. The Swiss forward's initial shot attempt was denied but he chipped the rebound over Rittich for his first goal in his fourth game of the season.

TOP PERFORMER

Nurse was an absolute horse for Edmonton on Friday, playing a game-high 30:01, assisting on Puljujarvi's opening goal and blocking four shots. It was the first time this season he logged more than 30 minutes.

FACT CHECK

With his assist on Puljujarvi's opening goal, Nurse became the 12th defenceman to reach at least 100 career assists with the Oilers franchise. Current teammate Oscar Klefbom is also on the list with 122, while Hockey Hall of Fame member Paul Coffey is at the top of the list with 460.

NEXT UP

What's better than one Battle of Alberta matchup? Two in as many nights, of course! The provincial rivals will square off again on Saturday at Rogers Place for their third of 10 meetings this season. The Oilers will then hit the road for a pair of games in Vancouver coming up on Tuesday and Thursday.

PARTING WORDS

"From a coaching standpoint, it shows your team is improving and moving in the right direction," Head Coach Dave Tippett said of Friday's performance compared to the team's 6-4 loss to Calgary in their first meeting of the season 13 days prior. "We looked comfortable in the 2-1 game, which is good... I liked the way we hung in there and got the win."
"He's really played well, really come into his own," Tippett said of Barrie, who logged 25:26 and is now tied for second in the NHL in points by defencemen with 15 thanks to his assist.

"We'll definitely take the points any way that we can right now," said Nugent-Hopkins, who played 21:34 in the victory with two takeaways and two blocked shots. "It probably wasn't our prettiest win, but sometimes it's going to go down like that and you've just got to grind it out. I thought Smitty and our D corps were really solid tonight, not giving them too many good opportunities."
"Everybody on the team wants to help those guys. so we're happy when we can do it," Haas said of the NHL's top two point producers, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who were held off the scoresheet for the second time this season, both in Oilers wins.