GAME RECAP: Oilers 5, Flames 1

EDMONTON, AB – Happy Holidays, Oil Country.

The goals were snowing down for the Edmonton Oilers in the Battle of Alberta, with Leon Draisaitl recording the hat-trick and Connor McDavid posting an incredible five assists on Tuesday night in a 5-1 victory over the Calgary Flames at Rogers Place in the final game before the start of the holiday break.

"You look at the way the team's rolling right now and winning a lot more games, it starts with those two, and they're playing extremely well," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "For three or four weeks, they've been really rolling, and those two are head and shoulders above everyone else."

Draisaitl hadn't scored in nine games, but broke out in a big way despite having nine assists over his previous four games by recording his ninth-career regular-season hat-trick, pushing his own point streak to five with three goals and nine assists over that span to reach 20 goals on the campaign.

"Of course, I was never really in a panic mode because I didn't score in six, seven of however many games it was, but I felt like I had looks," Draisaitl said. "I felt like the other parts of my games were there, and they were good, so I think it was just a matter of time for it to bounce in."

The German surpassed Glenn Anderson for the third-most goals in Oilers' franchise history with his 416th, 417th and 418th career tallies in the victory.

McDavid factored in on every one of Edmonton's goals to post his 12th-career regular-season game with five or more points, extending his masterful point streak to 11 games, totalling 12 goals and 19 assists, to lead the NHL in scoring with 67 points (23G, 44A) through 38 games entering the holidays.

"It tilts the game, right?" Draisaitl said of McDavid. "He's obviously feeling it. We've all seen it plenty of times in his career. I think the puck's falling for him right now, and he's too good right now, so that's not fun to play against."

All of the Oilers' scoring was done by five players, with Zach Hyman also posting a multi-point night with a goal and two assists, Evan Bouchard contributing two assists, and Nugent-Hopkins opening the scoring with his 11th goal of the campaign in the first period on the power play, which went 3-for-6.

"I thought it was as good as it's been," McDavid said. "Really solid all over. Special teams were great, and five-on-five, we generated lots and didn't give up much. Our goalie played well, and a lot of things to like."

Goaltender Connor Ingram made 18 saves to pick up his second straight win for the Oilers, who improved to 19-13-6 this season with their sixth win in their last eight games, sitting in a tie for first place in the Pacific Division with 14 of their next 21 games set to be played on home ice before the Olympic break.

"A great opportunity for our group here," McDavid said. "We're home for most of January, and we don't go east again. We've gotten a lot of tough trips out of the way. We're healthy. We're only getting healthier. A little bit of a break, and I like where our group can go. This is a big month for us coming up. We've got to take advantage of this schedule at home here and make a good push."

The Oilers will rematch the Flames in the Battle of Alberta this coming Saturday at Scotiabank Arena.

FIRST PERIOD

The Oilers' top offensive contributors were already looking unstoppable entering Tuesday's return of the Battle of Alberta, which only fed into their scoring frenzy that needed no extra motivation going into the first of two straight meetings with the Flames this holiday season.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins needs no introduction to the Battle of Alberta, playing in his 60th career contest against Calgary on Tuesday and opening the scoring with his 11th goal of the season 6:48 into the first period, which marked his 50th point against the Flames – his most against any team over his career.

Flames netminder Dustin Wolf let out a heavy rebound off Evan Bouchard's low blast into vacated space in front of Calgary's crease, where Nugent-Hopkins pounced on the loose puck and buried the opening goal under his right arm to record the 20th of his career against Edmonton's provincial rival.

The longest-tenured Oilers forward became the seventh player in franchise history to put 20 goals past the Flames and needs 15 more goals to tie another legendary Ryan – Ryan Smyth – for the seventh-most goals in franchise history with 296 after picking up his 779th career point to open the scoring.

Connor McDavid recorded the secondary helper to extend his point streak to 11 games, and there'd be plenty more to come from the captain and the two-time reigning NHL First Star of the Week by the time this one was over.

The Flames did have their only real push of the night with a few minutes remaining in the first period, scoring a fortunate goal from MacKenzie Weegar to tie things up at 1-1 when the defenceman's point shot was inadvertently redirected in off Darnell Nurse's chest to land in the top corner past Connor Ingram.

The Oilers were shorthanded inside the final three minutes, where Ingram had to make a great diving save against Morgan Frost's chance from the right side before McDavid wound up for one of his incredible solo rushes, only to be stopped by a slash in the hands from Rasmus Andersson that drew a penalty.

With 56 seconds of power-play time before the end of the period, Edmonton's top unit restored its on-goal lead in style, converting a terrific passing play that saw Zach Hyman deliver a no-look backhand pass onto the tape of Leon Draisaitl from in front that the German deposited for his first goal in nine games.

"I know he wants to play good hockey," McDavid said. "That's all that he really cares about, and he's been doing that. He's been playing good hockey, and goals will come for him. It's inevitable. He gets so many good looks and is such a good player."

With his 18th goal of the season and the 417th of his career, Draisaitl officially tied Glenn Anderson for the third-most goals in franchise history and is also just eight assists away from 600 for his career after posting nine helpers over his point streak that got pushed to five games thanks to his go-ahead goal.

Like Nugent-Hopkins, Draisaitl's 66 career points versus Calgary after his goal (only to increase as the night went on) mark his most against any NHL team.

SECOND PERIOD

Simply unstoppable.

The Flames had no answer for what the Oilers were throwing at them through 40 minutes, outchancing Calgary 39-23 and outshooting them 30-16 through two periods after owning an 8-1 advantage in high-danger chances during the middle frame and extending their lead to 4-1 in the Battle of Alberta.

Draisaitl was saying 'Auf Wiedersehen' (goodbye) to his goalless drought in a big way on Tuesday after recording the 70th multi-goal game of his career to officially pass Glenn Anderson for third on the Oilers' all-time scoring list, notching his second power-play goal of the game only 1:59 into the middle frame.

The German spun a pass to McDavid in the right circle before carrying his route towards the net and taking a return feed from his other half of the Dynamic Duo, burying it far side on Wolf to extend Edmonton's lead to 3-1 while improving to 2-for-2 with the man advantage.

"I'm happy because I'm creating other looks for guys that I'm on the ice with, so as long as that part of the game is there, I'm happy," Draisaitl said.

The Flames were understandably getting frustrated from the one-way traffic towards their crease, and Weegar showed that anger just under six minutes into the period, taking a two-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct after whacking away Nurse's stick before earning a 10-minute misconduct and being kicked out for bashing his stick in protest towards the referee on the glass inside the penalty box.

Not long after, Trent Frederic and Kevin Bahl had an airing of grievances for a blindside hit the Flames' defenceman delivered on Zach Hyman earlier in the frame, marking the seventh time in Battle of Alberta history that a fight broke out in one of their meetings that fell on the day before Christmas Eve.

Almost three-and-a-half minutes later, McDavid continued his streak of getting involved on every one of Edmonton's goals on Tuesday night when he set up his linemate Hyman for an easy back-door tap-in on a two-on-one to make it 4-1 Oilers, recording his fourth assist of the evening.

McDavid had his sixth three-point performance of December, matching his career high that he also achieved back in March 2024.

THIRD PERIOD

Draisaitl still had one delivery left to make before Christmas.

With a simple finish off a loose puck in the crease for his third power-play goal of the night at 5:39 of the final period, Draisaitl confirmed his hat-trick to make it 5-1 for the Oilers before the hats started snowing down at Rogers Place on what was a fun-filled and festive evening in Oil Country.

McDavid once again factored in with an assist to give him FIVE helpers on Tuesday against the Flames, marking his 12th-career game in the regular season with five or more points and his first in nearly a calendar year, after he recorded a goal and four assists on Jan. 4, 2024 in a win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Hyman's second-period goal, coupled with his assist on Draisaitl's third marker, means he now has 100 career multi-point games and 15 points (nine goals) over his last 11 contests as the Oilers get more and more healthy with the further addition of Jack Roslovic from injury.

"We're still missing a couple of guys, but we're healthier," McDavid said. "Hymsy's in there and playing well, and Nuge is in there and doing his thing. We get Rosie back, and guys are feeling good, healthy, and a lot to like heading into the break."

It wouldn't have been a Battle of Alberta without some extra animosity as the game's final seconds wound down, with every player on the ice receiving a 10-minute misconduct with seven seconds left after a melee in front of the Oilers' bench led to multiple ejections before the final buzzer came.

Edmonton's record improved to 19-13-6 with their sixth win in their last eight games, helping erase the 'humbug' from their slow start to the season and put them in a tie for first place in the Pacific Division heading into the holiday break.

"I think guys are just playing better," McDavid said. "When teams are struggling, everyone looks around for answers and points to one thing or the other, but ultimately, it just comes down to individual play from everybody. I thought collectively as a group, our game has just gotten better and better as the season's gone on, especially over the last couple of weeks. I think that's the biggest thing."

"I think it's been trending that way over the last couple of months, I guess a couple of weeks," Draisaitl added. "So we've been playing some good hockey, some consistent good hockey, and everyone's contributing, everyone's chipping in, and everyone's doing their part. When we get to that point, we're a tough team to handle."

The Oilers & Flames will have a few days off for Christmas before renewing pleasantries in a rematch on Saturday at Scotiabank Saddledome.