GAME STORY: Oilers Rookies 4, Flames Rookies 3

EDMONTON, AB - Forward Henry Rybinski and defencemen Philip Kemp each scored a pair of goals in a comeback 4-3 victory for the Oilers Rookies on Saturday night at Rogers Place, helping erase an early two-goal deficit in the first of two Battle of Alberta clashes during Rookie Camp.

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FIRST BLOOD

It was a quick-strike combo of goals for the visitors in the opening five minutes. Walker Duehr took the feed from the goal line from Jakob Pelletier and had his shot above the right circle blocked before the Flames winger collected his own rebound and dribbled his second effort under the left shoulder of Oilers netminder Olivier Rodrigue.
No more than 21 seconds later, centre Ryan Francis was on hand in front of goal to double Calgary's lead with an easy tap-in into an open Oilers goal.

PLAY OF THE GAME

With the two sides all square at 3-3 into the third period, Kemp deposited the game-winning goal and his second tally of the game with authority. The Greenwich, Conn. product stepped into a puck that bounced beautifully off the corner boards and put his half-clapper over the glove-hand side of Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf just over four minutes into the final frame.

SAVE OF THE GAME

When the Flames had their one opportunity to level the game in the final minutes, Rodrigue was on the spot to make his biggest save of the match. A bobbling puck on the goal line fell right to Mathias Emilio Petterson in front, who dropped to one knee but couldn't beat the sharp glove of the Chicoutimi, Que. crease protector.

TURNING POINT

It was a friendly bounce off the twig of a Calgary defender, but Kemp and the Oilers Rookies weren't about to argue. Streaming down the right side, the seventh-round pick in 2017 sent a centring shot towards the Flames net that connected with the stick of a laid-out Flames defenceman and nestled kindly into the top shelf. Kemp's goal tied the game at 3-3 with just over eight minutes left in the middle frame.

TOP PERFORMER

Rybinski's two power-play goals were critical, pulling the Oilers Rookies back twice to within one and keep the game in reach. The Oilers 2019 fifth-round pick found himself in a similar position to his first-period man-advantage marker, taking the feed from Ostap Safin behind the Calgary goal, before rifling a one-touch shot top shelf over the glove of Wolf at 6:34 of the second period. Rybinski also added an assist on Kemp's game-winning goal, while Safin provided two helpers on the night.

NEXT UP

Oilers Rookie Camp concludes Monday night when the Oilers Rookies and Flames Rookies do battle for a final time this season at Scotiabank Arena in Calgary. Main Camp commences the following Wednesday at Rogers Place, where a number of Oilers prospects who took part this week will look to stake their claim to a spot with the big club.

PARTING WORDS

Head Coach Jay Woodcroft on the fightback from a two-goal deficit:
"I thought it was a competitive game," he said. "There was lots of good in that game; the effort, the enthusiasm and try were there. We made some mistakes, but the team, a group that's only been together for three days, found a way to come back and make it a game. Then, they found a way to win it in the third period.
"If I look at the game as a whole, I don't think we started the game very well. I thought we were slow out of the gate, and give credit to Calgary's rookies. I thought they were very good in the first period. We found a way to tighten up our shift lengths and start to shoot the puck in the second and third periods. We were rewarded. I thought our power play was good tonight, the penalty kill did some good things, and at the end of the day, we've got some mistakes to clean up. But moving forward, there are some things to build on."

Woodcroft on growing from the game and taking momentum into Calgary:
"The theme of the camp is to get better every day. So whatever the result tonight, we were going to go through the game with a fine-toothed comb. We're going to present a few themes to our team, we're going to grow tomorrow by trying to give our team something and work on it in practice. The first couple of days of Rookie Camp here were very hard. They weren't easy days... We were on the ice this morning and went into a tough game tonight. Everyone naturally is going to feel a little bit sore heading into tomorrow. I think it's the job of the coaching staff to present some small things that we can improve at and accentuate a lot of the good things we did."
Rybinski on a confidence-boosting three-point performance:
"I think it was just a big confidence booster for me," Rybinski said. "Going into camp, you're obviously really nervous and you don't know many guys. So just having a good game and the coaching staff getting to see what I can do playing hard and tenacious on both sides, it was really good. It was good for me to get that game in and show them what I got."

Rybinski on the power-play connection:
"We actually did talk about it before the game -- myself, Safin and [Matvei] Petrov. We talked about it and just the option of going down the goal line. They just said to be ready to shoot it, because they'll find me. They did, and eyes closed I just hit it... I thought we had a lot of chemistry out there. We're all fast, quick-thinking forwards, so we're just reading off one another getting the cycles going and beating the d-men with our speed and skill. We had a lot of chemistry and it was really fun playing with them. They're both really good players."
Kemp on the intensity they expect from Calgary in the return fixture on Monday:
"I think we're all extremely competitive, and any time you lace them up you want to beat the guy across from you," Kemp said. "I think Monday is no exception. We had a great win, but we know they're going to come out hungry and try to beat us."