Post-Game: Exhibition Game #4 Oilers 2 Flames 1

Scoring Summary
1st Period
NO SCORING

2nd Period
CGY Rene Bourque (Derek Smith, Max Reinhart) 8:17
EDM Ryan Jones 1 (shorthanded) (Andy Sutton) 19:52

3rd Period
EDM Taylor Hall 1 (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins)18:43


Penalty Summary
0:26 Edmonton tripping - 2 min N. Khabibulin drawn by P. Byron served by R. Martindale
10:59 Calgary tripping - 2 min A. Babchuk drawn by J. Green
12:48 Edmonton interference - 2 min R. Keller drawn by J. Henry

2nd Period
8:50 Calgary tripping - 2 min B. Walter drawn by T. Pitlick
12:13 Calgary tripping - 2 min S. Baertschi drawn by R. Nugent-Hopkins
18:52 Edmonton unsportsmanlike conduct - 2 min C. Barker

3rd Period
13:20 Calgary too many men on ice - 2 min Bench served by G. Desbiens

Shots on Goal Calgary 17 Edmonton 29

Game Notes:
- This was a hard, contested game, had a lot of feel similar to the game against Vancouver on Thursday. Not a lot of room to move and not a lot of sustained pressure at either end. Defensively the Oilers were solid, minus a couple of puckhandling brain cramps. Did well to get into shooting lanes, they blocked a lot of shots, limiting the Flames to just 17 shots on goal. Nugent-Hopkins and Hall didn't have a lot of chemistry throughout the game, but did hook up on the winner as Nugent-Hopkins hurled a shot towards the net that hit Hall, in which Hall showed nice hand-eye coordination by batting off his shins into the net. I'm don't think the Nuge and Hall have natural chemstry in that they both want the pucks on their sticks. Both will have to learn to play off the puck in order for them as a unit can be effective. Pitlick and Hartikainen both brought elements to party that was missing in the loss to Vancouver. Just being in the battle, coming out with some puck and pressing the action towards the net. Strong game for of them. The Oilers power play is something that is under construction. It looks like the scheme is solid, just a matter of getting the right personnel on the ice at the same time. As preseaon goes on, hopefully more set units are established.

Player of the Game:
- Nikolai Khabibulin has himself a nice bounce back game tonight. He whiffed on the Bourque goal but was flawless the rest of the way. He battled hard, throwing limbs at pucks, just trying to keep the puck out of the net. Good on Habby for not going out with a whimper. Life of a goaltender, its all about the next game, next period, next shot....Khabibulin still has a lot to prove in order to convince the coaches and fans that he still has it, but tonight was a move in the right direction.

Goat of the Game:
- It pains me to do it, but Anton Lander had himself an uneven game. He was pretty reliable for the most, but created little offensively and coughed up the puck to Sven Baertschi, that gave him a five alarm, point blank chance that Khabibulin stoned him on. If I was scoring the battle between Nugent-Hopkins and Lander, I would have Nugent-Hopkins ahead on points as of now. Although with an injury to Sam Gagner tonight, who did not finish the game, may change the outlook of that battle.

Next Game - Oilers at Flames 6PM MT on Sportnet West