GAME STORY: Oilers 4, Flames 1

EDMONTON, AB - The Battle of Alberta officially belongs to the Oilers as they concluded the lengthy 10-game season series with their sixth victory in a 4-1 decision Saturday at Rogers Place.

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GAME DAY
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Highlights
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POST-GAME VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Post-Game vs. CGY
POST-GAME RAW | Coach Tippett
POST-GAME RAW | McDavid
POST-GAME RAW | Smith

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FIRST BLOOD

, Connor McDavid is a human cheat code. Captain Connor continued his onslaught on the North Division with yet another ridiculous highlight-reel goal on the power play for his 29th tally of the season to make it 1-0 Edmonton at 4:46 of the opening period as the Oilers came out flying.

PLAY OF THE GAME

We didn't even bother describing McDavid's opening goal in the section above because there's no way it wasn't the top play of the night as well. It was a perfectly executed power-play breakout as Mike Smith dropped the puck back to Tyson Barrie behind the net, the defenceman skated it out and dropped it back to McDavid, who zipped it to Leon Draisaitl in the neutral zone and he gave it back to the captain, who exploded into the attacking zone, got checked by Chris Tanev momentarily and slammed the loose puck top shelf glove side on a helpless Jacob Markstrom.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Smith made his best stop of the night in between Edmonton's two goals in the first period, darting out a lightning-quick left pad to deny Andrew Mangiapane point blank after Sean Monahan found him with a pass from behind the Oilers net.

TURNING POINT

Empty-net goals from Josh Archibald and Darnell Nurse sealed the victory for the home team as the Flames fought hard for the equalizer throughout the final frame but the Oilers withstood the pressure and persevered with the two late markers into the vacated Calgary cage.

TOP PERFORMER

McDavid and the offence was on fire in the early stages but Smith was steady all night as he made 29 saves for his 18th victory, improving his sparkling season record to 18-6-2.

FACT CHECK

McDavid suited up for his 400th NHL regular season game on Saturday and, thanks to his three-point performance, has two more points than Sidney Crosby for the seventh most by a player in their first 400 career games. The captain's 556 points put him behind only Wayne Gretzky (935), Mario Lemieux (774), Peter Stastny (607), Mike Bossy (598), Jari Kurri (570) and Eric Lindros (563).

NEXT UP

The Oilers will head back out on the road tomorrow as they fly to Vancouver for back-to-back games against the Canucks on Monday and Tuesday. Both teams will then travel to Edmonton for games at Rogers Place on Thursday and Saturday to round out the second-last week of the regular season.

PARTING WORDS

"In a playoff series, you can't lose two in a row, so to be able to bounce back in a series where they're playing for their lives, it's desperate hockey, it's playoff hockey," McDavid said of the Oilers battling back with a win after falling to the Flames on Thursday. "I thought we did a great job responding."
"Yup," Smith said when asked if there was extra satisfaction for him beating Edmonton's provincial rival and his former team, significantly hindering Calgary's remaining playoff hopes.

"Nothing ceases to amaze me with this kid," Smith said of McDavid, who now has 87 points in 49 games. "It's incredible how he continues to get better and better. It seems when he gets shut down one game, the next game he's that much hungrier to get out there and help the team win. It says a lot about the maturity of him as a person.
"Everybody knows how incredible he is on the ice, but I've seen a young man grow into a leader of this hockey club, obviously a huge part of why we've had success this year. It's impressive to watch a young guy like that take this team on his shoulders and do what he's done this year."
"We've got lots to work on," Head Coach Dave Tippett said of the team's upcoming seven games before playoffs. "We've been trying to prepare for this final stretch and making sure our game is in place, so we're going to continue to do that. We want to make sure our game is in order moving forward."
"Solid, very solid," Tippett said of Ryan McLeod, who moved up to the top six on a line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jesse Puljujarvi. "I have no problem playing him in any part of the game."