Following up on Trevor Neufeld’s Split Squad Storylines article from Sunday: The Calgary Flames opened their preseason slate with two home and road split-squad games against the Edmonton Oilers. In Calgary, the Oilers doused the Flames, 3-0. Meanwhile, in Edmonton, the Flames earned a 3-2 overtime win. Call it a true home-and-home set, except the games took place on the same day in two Alberta cities.
Saddledome Game: Flames Blanked
Kasperi Kapanen gave the Oilers a quick 1-0 lead in the first period. The one-goal margin held until the third period. Finally, midway through the third stanza, Connor Clattenberg and Riley Stillman added insurance for Edmonton. The Oilers outshot the Flames, 29-20.
Devin Cooley went the distance in goal for Calgary, stopping 26 of 29 shots. Samuel Jonsson (12 saves) and Nathaniel Day (eight saves) split the game in half for Edmonton in the combined shutout.
The Oilers went 0-for-2 on the power play. Meanwhile, the Flames were 0-for-3.
Rogers Arena: Frost and Farabee Lift Flames
Former Philadelphia Flyers players Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee delivered a 3-2 overtime win in the Edmonton half of the split-squad games. The Flames were outshot by a 30-14 margin but found a way to prevail.
The game was scoreless through the opening frame. Edmonton led, 1-0, on an early period tally by veteran defenseman Darnell Nurse. Frost equalized the score 3:28 later. Farabee notched a mid-period power play tally to give Calgary a 2-1 edge. However, in the final 1:19 of the period, Matvey Petrov banked home a shot to re-tie the score at two goals apiece.
The third period was scoreless, despite an 8-3 shot on goal edge for Edmonton. Play moved to 3-on-3 sudden death. Finally, at the 1:07 mark, Frost notched his second goal of the game to secure the win for Calgary. Dryden Hunt assisted on both Frost goals.
Calgary went 1-for-3 on the power play. Meanwhile, they were 2-for-2 on penalty kill.
Ivan Prosvetov (28 saves) went the distance in goal for Calgary . Matt Tomkins played the full game in net for the Oilers.
