THIRD PERIOD
0.0: The Oilers fall to the Calgary Flames 3-1 in the second last Battle of Alberta of the regular season. The two sides conclude the series Saturday back at Rogers Place.
1:58: Smith heads to the bench as the Oilers look for two with the extra attacker.
3:10: Draisaitl and McDavid work the give-and-go but McDavid doesn’t get good wood on his one-time attempt.
5:07: Draisaitl’s wicked one-timer gets blocked by Nikita Nesterov and Markstrom vocalizes his appreciation. Edmonton remains down by two with just over five to play.
7:44: Tkachuk takes a boarding penalty against Russell. Edmonton gets an opportunity to answer on the power play.
7:52: Dube deposits Milan Lucic’s rebound to provide some insurance for the Flames. | CGY 3, EDM 1
9:20: Nurse leads the rush but runs out of real estate near the net, placing a sharp-angle shot on Markstrom that gets handled with ease.
13:23: Mikael Backlund gets a pair of chances, first hitting the iron with a wrister then putting a puck on from the wing.
15:50: CLOSE BUT NO SCORE! Shore puts a puck on net from the slot then Dmitry Kulikov drops low to put back the rebound while a maze of bodies battle for it. Markstrom tracks Kulikov down to make a chest save and keep the Oilers trailing.
16:20: Coach Tippett shuffles up his units to being the period as Nugent-Hopkins takes a skate with Chiasson and Kahun while Gaëtan Haas centres Devin Shore and Jesse Puljujarvi. McDavid, Draisaitl and Yamamoto form the top line.
20:00: The third period has begun!
SECOND PERIOD
0.0: The second period ends with the Flames up by a single. Shots were 15-9 in the 2nd and 22-17 overall, in favour of Calgary.
13.0: HIGHWAY GLOVERY! Smith absolutely DENIES Lindholm with a beautiful and emphatic glove save. That could stand as the keeper’s submission for save of the year!
43.7: Dillon Dube brings Smith down behind the goal-line. He’ll go off for goaltender interference and the Oilers will go to the man advantage.
5:45: Neal continues to buzz tonight with a deft tip in front that Markstrom blocks with his big frame. At the other end, Smith foils Matthew Tkachuk from the side of the net.
11:34: Neal picks off a pass then heads to the races on a breakaway, getting robbed by Markstrom’s glove on his chip shot.
12:53: Lindholm deflects Rasmus Andersson’s point shot to handcuff Smith and take the lead with his second of the evening. | CGY 2, EDM 1
12:56: Smith continues to battle in net, stopping a Chris Tanev point shot and not letting the rebound squirt loose. The keeper is up to 12 saves.
14:28: Smith eats Lindholm’s wrister then Mark Giordano can’t find twine on the rebound.
16:19: Yet another whistle from the refs. This time it’s Nugent-Hopkins going off for interference. The Oilers have to kill a 4-on-3 now.
16:40: Derek Ryan now goes off for hooking. Edmonton gets a 20-second 4-on-3 man advantage.
17:17: A pass skips over Tyson Barrie’s blade at the blueline and he takes a tripping penalty to stop the Flames from attacking on an odd-man rush. The two sides go 4-on-4 for 57 seconds then the Flames get a minute power play.
18:20: Brett Ritchie takes an offensive zone interference minor to give the Oilers the game’s first power play.
20:00: The second period has begun!
FIRST PERIOD
0.0: Kailer Yamamoto finds Leon Draisaitl sneaking in but he is stopped by Markstrom. Lindholm got the Flames on the board first and Neal replies for a deadlocked 1-1 game to enter the middle period.
6:32: THE REAL DEAL! Russell gains the zone then drops for James Neal and he goes far side on Markstrom for his fourth goal of the season. Russell and Josh Archibald get the helpers. | EDM 1, CGY 1
10:47: Dominik Kahun shovels a backhander from between the dots and Jacob Markstrom gets enough of it with his shoulder to keep it out.
13:56: Elias Lindholm slams a shot in from Main Street after a few Oilers misplays following a defensive zone draw. | CGY 1, EDM 0
15:29: A good pace to the Battle early on as Calgary gets a chance to attack from the slot but the Oilers group up in front to help out Smith.
20:00: Tonight’s Battle of Alberta has begun on Canadian Armed Forces Appreciation Night at Rogers Place! Head Coach Dave Tippett makes one change to his lineup, swapping Kris Russell in for Caleb Jones on the blueline. Mike Smith starts in goal.
Rocking the @CanadianForces warmup jerseys tonight! @Oil_Foundation will be auctioning these beauties off in support of Military Family Resource Centres in Edmonton, Wainwright & Cold Lake.#LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/i1DcoiYBM7
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) April 30, 2021
TONIGHT’S LINEUP
Kahun – McDavid – Puljujärvi
Nugent-Hopkins – Draisaitl – Yamamoto
Neal – McLeod – Archibald
Shore – Haas – Chiasson
Nurse – Barrie
Kulikov – Larsson
K. Russell – Bear
Smith
Koskinen
OUT: Caleb Jones, Joakim Nygard, Jujhar Khaira, William Lagesson, Alex Stalock
OILERS TODAY | PRE-GAME VS. CGY