Flames 4, Oilers 3
The Edmonton Oilers may be the NHL's team of the future. The Calgary Flames don't appear ready to give up the title of being the best team in Alberta just yet.
The Flames took the first meeting of the provincial rivals with a 4-3 victory Saturday night at the Saddledome. In turn, they won for the first time this season.
The Oilers, with their plethora of youngsters -- including the last three first overall draft picks in Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov -- are considered far and wide as a team on the rise.
The Flames finally had their chance to have a say and made the most of it, led by Lee Stempniak, who potted his third goal of the season in a three-point night.
The Flames had all their forwards at their disposal, and showed they may just have the offensive touch needed to end their playoff drought after missing the second season in each of the last three seasons.
Mikael Backlund, Curtis Glencross and Jay Bouwmeester also scored for the Flames, who put together a complete effort from start to finish.
Bouwmeester, who has been much-maligned in Calgary since joining the Flames prior to the 2009-10 season, had a two-point night.
Justin Schultz, Jordon Eberle and Sam Gagner scored for the Oilers, who are in a win-one, lose-one rut to start this season.
Gagner's goal came with two seconds remaining, so all it did was make the final closer than the game should have been.
Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 32 shots for the Flames (1-2-1), while Devan Dubnyk made 16 saves for the Oilers (2-2-0).
NOTES: The Flames had two players making their season debut. Jiri Hudler, a free-agent acquisition from the Detroit Red Wings, missed the first three games due to the death of his father on the eve of the season. Roman Cervenka also saw his first action for Calgary. A star in Eurasia's Kontinental Hockey League the past two seasons, Cervenka's delay to playing in the NHL was caused by blood clots and resulting treatment after he blocked a shot in a KHL game in November. Hudler collected his first point as a Flame with a second-period assist. ... The Oilers have surrendered the first goal in all four games this season. They've fallen behind by a 2-0 count in three of their four games, too. ... Edmonton's power play has been deadly to start the season. The Oilers have scored on the man-advantage in all four of their games, and they've already twice netted at least two goals on the power play. ... The Flames have also scored at least one power-play goal in all four of their games.
