Flames take Battle of Alberta with tight win over Oilers

Ryan Lomberg broke a third-period tie and rookie Matvei Gridin scored once and added an assist to lead the host Calgary Flames to a 4-3 victory over the slumping Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Connor Zary also scored for the Flames in the final clash before the Olympic break for both clubs.

Goaltender Devin Cooley made 36 saves and recorded an assist.

Zach Whitecloud, MacKenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri all collected two assists.

Calgary claimed the season's Battle of Alberta by winning three of the four meetings.

Leon Draisaitl scored twice, while Kasperi Kapanen added a single for the Oilers, who have lost three straight games and five of eight outings.

Goalie Tristan Jarry stopped 21 shots, and Evan Bouchard netted a pair of assists.

Calgary has won 49 consecutive games when scoring four or more goals, a total hit when Lomberg scored the winner.

The fourth-line winger broke the deadlock when he pounced on the rebound and chipped it home at 6:44 of the third period.

The Oilers had a frantic push, but Cooley stood tall to close out the back-and-forth clash.

Huberdeau opened the scoring with the first of four power-play goals on the night by unloading a one-timer from the right face-off dot at the 3:12 mark.

Draisaitl replied just over two minutes later with the first of his two man-advantage markers, coming when he neatly lifted a back-hand shot from near the net.

Gridin again put the Flames ahead on the power play by converting a shot off the wing when he was sprung on a breakaway at 14:44 of the first period. It is the first multi-point game for the 2024 first-round draft pick (28th overall), who skated in his 13th career game.

Zary made it a 3-1 contest when Whitecloud's point shot ricocheted off his leg while he was setting the screen at 11:43 of the second period.

However, the Oilers again tied the clash. Draisaitl notched his second of the game with a sharp-angled one-timer from his off-wing at 18:26 of the second period.

Then, Kapanen evened the score at 3-3 when his rising shot from the high slot was originally stopped by Cooley, but the puck slid down and off his equipment and into the net at 4:17 of the third period.