GAME RECAP: Oilers 2, Flames 1

EDMONTON, AB - A veteran Edmonton Oilers lineup peppered Calgary Flames netminder Dan Vladar for 38 shots on Friday night, receiving a short-handed goal from Leon Draisaitl and the game-winner from Brett Kulak in a 2-1 pre-season victory at Rogers Place on Friday night.
Connor McDavid played 20:47 in his first taste of pre-season action on a line with Evander Kane and Kailer Yamamoto that looked heavily involved all night, while defencemen Philip Broberg and Cody Ceci tallied helpers on Kulak's game-winner that came 8:55 into the final frame.
"As long as you're getting your chances and playing in the o-zone," Kane said. "I thought we did a good job of that tonight. Our line alone probably had six or seven Grade A's and nothing really went in, but if we keep playing like that after one pre-season game, I think we'll be fine."
Goaltender Jack Campbell faced eight shots in his exhibition debut in Blue & Orange and shared a 20-save victory with Calvin Pickard.

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FIRST BLOOD

If you're going to forget about Drai, you better do it in the preseason.
Forward Kailer Yamamoto carried the puck behind the Calgary net shorthanded and lost the puck momentarily with three Flames around him before regaining possession and switching the direction of play back towards the right circle.
Yamamoto drew the attention of the defending Flames and took a hit from defenceman Juuso Valimaki, but it allowed Draisaitl to sneak in unnoticed at the back post and find himself in the right place to put home the opening goal off a back-door feed from Yamamoto with 11:26 to go in the opening frame.
"For us to find a goal like that, I would say that the thing that most people didn't get to see was that he took a hit to make that play too," Woodcroft said. "We saw the nice finish, but he made a great play while taking a hit in order to do it."

FLAMES FIND A WAY

After Cody Eakin's deflection in front of Campbell went wide, the forward wrapped around the net and got a piece of the puck on the blade of Darnell Nurse to send it goalbound. Waiting in the danger zone was Dillon Dube, who snuck the tying goal under the right arm of Campbell to make it 1-1 with 4:11 to go in the first period.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Fresh off serving a successful Oilers penalty kill after Darnell Nurse was involved in his first of two fights on the evening, Luke Esposito carried the puck into the Flames end and lapped the offensive zone before dropping a pass to the incoming Brett Kulak. As Ryan Nugent-Hopkins crossed the middle of the zone and clouded Vladar's vision, Kulak released a slapshot that eluded bodies on the way through before nestling into the top shelf on Edmonton's 35th shot of the game.
"I knew that I wanted someone coming out of the box that wasn't in our penalty kill rotation," Woodcroft said. "I thought Luke was fresh and I thought Luke played a really good game for us tonight. He's ultra-competitive. I've had the good fortune of coaching him the last three-and-a-half years in Bakersfield, so I feel good when he's on the ice, even against NHL competition, becuase he's so darn competitive and he made a really nice play on that goal."

SAVE OF THE GAME

It's good soup.
It was a quiet evening for the newest Oiler between the pipes, but it was a sharp stop from Jack Campbell that marked the game's first action seconds after puck drop. The 30-year-old off-season signing stood up the Flames first chance of the hockey game with a shoulder stop just 12 seconds into the game, earning his first-ever 'Sooooouuuuup!'chants from the Rogers Place crowd.
"It's really cool. I love when (the fans) erupt for the team; when we score and win the game," he said. "That's what's most important, but I'm honoured that they do that."
Campbell only faced eight shots in his Oilers pre-season debut with the ice tiled in the direction of the Calgary net through two periods. The Oilers led in shots 28-11 through 40 minutes.
"I thought he was good," Woodcroft said. "I thought both of our goaltenders were good just like how their goaltender was good. Jack didn't get a tonne of work, but I thought he was clean with the puck, he looked confident and big in the net, and I was quite pleased with his first 30 minutes."

SAVE OF THE GAME

Credit where credit is due -- Vladar did his best to keep the Flames in this one.
The Calgary goaltender stopped 36-of-38 shots and was beaten only twice when the Flames defence was caught sleeping on the power play in the first period and Kulak's slapshot eluded his vision midway through the final frame. The Oilers man advantage that was bolstered by some veterans in McDavid, Draisaitl and Zach Hyman tonight was buzzing all evening despite going 0-for-3, and Vladar was a big factor in this scoreline not being higher in favour of the Oilers.
"I thought they looked really dangerous," Coach Woodcroft said of the Oilers power play. "Tip your hat to their goaltender, he made a lot of quality saves tonight. We ask our power play to be a momentum-generator, and that's what it was for us tonight. Numerous looks didn't go in, we can maybe be sharper around the net on a few of those opportunities, but certainly tip of the cap to their goaltender. He played a heck of a game."

PARTING WORDS

Campbell on not having a busy night in his debut:
"When we play that well, it's great for everybody. Of course there's lots here to work on, but I'll have my time in practice and games to keep sharpening up. It was a great team win."
Campbell on how many pre-season starts he wants:
"Usually its whatever coach wants. However many he puts me in, I'll be ready to go. It's nice getting that first one out of the way and learning from it and moving on."

Yamamoto on carrying over his offensive play during the final stretch of last season (21 points in 25 games):
"I felt good at the end of the year, but I had a lot more confidence. I'm coming into this year with a lot more confidence."
Coach Woodcroft on the Oilers power play tonight:
"I thought we did a lot of the things we wanted to do against a good penalty kill. Our players zipped it around and it was exactly what we wanted it to be, except we didn't get the final result."
Coach Woodcroft on Darnell Nurse's two fights against the Flames:
"I think it's a rivalry game between two provincial rivals who just played in a play-off series. Those things happen and I would never want to pull back Darnell in that situation because I thought he tried to do it for the right reasons, which was sticking up for a teammate. It happened, it's part of the game, and I know his teammates really appreciate it. I know his teammates really appreciate it. It makes Darnell one of the most feared D-men in the League as well."
Coach Woodcroft on Foegele's play and the overall performance of his line with Nugent-Hopkins and McLeod:
"I saw a much better game from Warren Foegele. I thought he was involved, he was physical, and was a big part of the penalty kill having success. that's an area of his game that he wants to continue to grow because he knows it's ice time as he moves forward. I thought he put in a good performance and I thought that line was very good too."