GDB 9.0 Summary: Stuart Skinner’s superb performance leads the Oilers to a 3-2 win over the Flames in Calgary

The Flames will have to wait before they can raise their 2022-23 Battle of Alberta Regular Season banner.

Two weeks ago, the Flames rolled into Edmonton and overwhelmed the Oilers with a 4-3 win. This time around, the Oilers put together a much more solid and complete performance and pulled off a dismal victory.

Connor McDavid scored three points and Zach Hyman buried his fifth and sixth goals of the season, but the first star of the game for the Oilers was undoubtedly Stuart Skinner, who stopped 40 of the 42 shots the Flames threw at him.

Skinner has now stopped 128 of the 134 shots he faced this season, good for a .955 save rate.

After both teams were goalless in the first frame, Mikael Backlund got the Flames going with a man down a few minutes into the second half. That was a tough look for Tyson Barrie, who wasn’t holding the line effectively at all and allowed Backlund to escape on a break.

It wasn’t long before the Oilers finished 1-1. On the same power play, Zach Hyman took a feed from Connor McDavid and wired a shot past an expansive mark stream.

The Flames regained the lead just before the end of game two. Milan Lucic sucked the puck up well behind the net, took a check from Evan Bouchard and slotted a pass to Brett Ritchie, who crushed his third win of the season. Bouchard, Brett Kulak and McDavid were caught focusing too much on Lucic behind the net and Ritchie was able to build up front on his own.

The Oilers tied 2-2 with just over half of the third period remaining on the clock. McDavid picked up a puck along the ties that had been rung around Calgary’s zone and threw a soft shot that fooled Jacob Markstrom. This was a game changer in last year’s playoff series as Markstrom conceded soft goals out of the blue in an otherwise strong start.

A few minutes later, the Oilers went 3-2 when Hyman scored his second goal of the game. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman forced a turnover behind the net and McDavid found the puck in the slot and fed Hyman for a tap-in off the side of the net.

• Ken Holland mentioned in a recent podcast appearance that he prefers to send his teams on a road trip early in the season rather than getting comfortable playing a few games at home to get things started. The Oilers had an uneven start to the season during their six games at home, but they really patched things up during that three-game journey. Team defense begins to sort itself out as players find their roles.
• One player who has quietly made the difference for the Oilers on the defensive end of the ice is Markus Niemelainen. He played 15:25 against the Flames, a high of the season, and did well on penalties. He has outperformed Ryan Murray so far and offers the Oilers a chance to take time out with Philip Broberg, who made his 2022-23 season debut for the Bakersfield Condors on Saturday.

• Apart from the joke in my lede, the Flames showed a strong game on Saturday. If it weren’t for that mistake from Markstrom and Skinner’s brilliance, they could have won that game easily, overtaking the Oilers 42-26. They did well in the offseason to replace Johnny Gaudreau and Matt Tkachuk with Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri and MacKenzie Weegar. It’s very, very early days, but this version of the Flames looks like a tougher opponent to beat in the playoffs.
• We’ll conclude with Skinner, who has established himself as Edmonton’s No. 1 goaltender for now. Though Jack Campbell is the $25 million man, this is more of a 1A and 1B tandem than a starter and backup situation, and the Oilers should roll with Skinner while he’s hot.