Oilers 4, Flames 0: Jarry's shutout and a Calgary goalie change decide the Battle of Alberta
Tristan Jarry made 24 saves as Edmonton snapped a two-game skid and ended Calgary's four-game winning streak.
The Edmonton Oilers beat the Calgary Flames 4-0 at Rogers Place on Wednesday night, the first Battle of Alberta of the season. Tristan Jarry made 24 saves for the shutout, according to the Oilers' game recap on NHL.com, and Edmonton snapped a two-game losing streak. Calgary's four-game winning streak ended.
A change in the Calgary net
The game turned on goaltending. The Canadian Press reports that Calgary starter Devin Cooley made eight saves before he was injured late in the first period after Oilers forward Colton Dach ran over him in the crease. NHL.com says Dustin Wolf replaced Cooley to start the second, likely after that collision. Dach had been called for goaltender interference on the play, per the NHL.com recap.
Cooley had come in having won four straight starts, with a 1.50 goals-against average and a .955 save percentage, The Canadian Press notes. Wolf stopped 20 shots in relief but allowed three goals.
The scoring
Mathieu Joseph opened the scoring in the first period, on the Oilers' first shot of the game, with assists from Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard. Mattias Ekholm, back after missing a game with an upper-body injury, made it 2-0 with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins assisting. Kasperi Kapanen then scored on the power play from a McDavid pass, and Alex Formenton added the fourth with an assist from Jason Dickinson.
One caution on timing: the two outlets disagree on whether Kapanen's goal came late in the second period (NHL.com's scoring summary) or about 55 seconds into the third (The Canadian Press), so Torch is not stating a period for it. Both agree on the 4-0 final.
The game also had a first-period fight, with Ty Emberson and Brennan Othmann taking fighting majors, according to NHL.com.
What it means
McDavid had two assists, and his assists streak to open the season now stands at 13 games. The Canadian Press describes that as the longest such streak in NHL history, passing Sebastian Aho, Ken Linseman and Wayne Gretzky; it also reports he leads the league with 36 points. NHL.com adds that the game was McDavid's 231st career multi-assist game, second in Oilers history behind Gretzky's 326. Nugent-Hopkins also had two assists.
Edmonton improved to 9-2-2 and finished its five-game road trip 3-1-1, per The Canadian Press. The Oilers are now 7-0 when leading after two periods this season. Calgary fell to 5-7-0, and has not won in any of its five games when trailing after two.
Jarry's reaction was measured. "I think we just gotta keep growing," he said, per NHL.com. McDavid said: "We wanted to win the game, first and foremost."
Edmonton opens a three-game trip at the New York Islanders on Saturday. Calgary hosts Seattle on Friday.