EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers were defeated twice by their provincial rivals the Calgary Flames in pre-season split-squad action on Monday night after falling 6-3 at Rogers Place and 6-1 at Scotiabank Saddledome.

In Edmonton, the Oilers recieved goals from defenceman Noel Hoefenmayer and veterans Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid, but the Flames staked themselves to a 4-0 lead in the second period before Hyman managed to beat Calgary netminder Logan Cooley to make it a three-goal game.

“I thought there were some good things and some that we can clean up,” Hyman said. “Anytime you get into preseason, the rhythm is always off. It’s a little different. I thought as the game went on, we got better as a group.”

The Flames shot-stopper had a strong night in Oil Country by making 44 saves, including a couple spectacular efforts over the full 60 minutes to keep the Oilers from mounting any comeback in the final frame. Calgary forwards Jonathan Huberdeau, Justin Kirkland and Samuel Honzek each had three points, while Matt Coronato scored twice and Anthony Mantha contributed a goal and assist in Edmonton’s defeat.

Down in Calgary, the Oilers didn’t fare much better despite professional try-out winger Mike Hoffman getting the Blue & Orange on the board with a power-play goal that put them up 1-0 at 7:55 of the opening period. The Flames went on to score six unanswered goals, tallying a power-play goal through Connor Zary, who scored twice and added an assist, and a short-handed marker from Yegor Sharangovich, who added two goals in the victory.

Winger Viktor Arvidsson and defenceman Ben Gleason produced assists for the Oilers on Hoffman’s lone goal in Calgary.

“Trying to work through it,” McDavid said. “I thought the legs got better and better as the game went on. I think it’s more the battling and stuff that you’re just not used to. You could skate up and down the rink all day, but it’s just the battling at that level that is tough, But obviously, not good enough all around and lots to work on.”

The Blue & Orange continue their pre-season schedule on Wednesday at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg against the Jets, with the game being streamed live on Oilers+ at 6:00pm MT.

FIRST PERIOD

Edmonton

The Flames struck first in Oil Country seven minutes into the opening period on a rebound that was cashed in by defenceman Jan Kuznetsov, who joined the rush and buried a rebound on the third try after Martin Pospisil forced netminder Calvin Pickard into making to two big saves from the slot.

Noah Philp and Corey Perry combined for Edmonton’s best chance of the opening 20 minutes off a Calgary turnover in their own zone that allowed the centre to unleash a snap shot that was blockered down by Devin Cooley. Despite Perry scraping his follow-up shot from outside the blue paint, Cooley denied the veteran Oilers forward with a miraculous save that preserved the Flames’ one-goal lead.

Calgary doubled their lead before the intermission, completing a slick exchange between Jonathan Huberdeau and Anthony Mantha to stretch Pickard out of position and leave Mantha with an easy tap-in at the left post. Head Coach Kris Knoblauch picked out the turnover in the offensive zone that led to Calgary’s rush up ice for the 3-0 lead as one of the many pre-season errors that they’ll have to clean up before games start to mean a whole lot more in the standings.

“I thought we had the puck a little more, but just made more mistakes – especially in the offensive zone where we turned the puck over, leading to odd-man rush for them,” the head coach said. “I think there was too many mistakes that you can’t have later on in the year in the regular season when the games are important. It’s exhibition. You’re trying to learn and get those out of your system.

“There were good things about tonight’s game, but there were too many mistakes that left our goalie exposed without the support they needed – especially Picks early on.”

Calgary

Meanwhile in Cowtown, the Oilers had something cooking in the first period beginning with a power play drawn by off-season signing Viktor Arvidsson, who looked sharp in his pre-season debut with the Blue & Orange and had the best chance for Edmonton at opening the scoring.

Arvidsson drew the trip near the Flames’ blueline and delivered a deflection on the next point shot during the power play that came his way in front, forcing netminder Dan Vladar to come up with the reaction save by getting the pad to the Swedish forward’s sneaky redirection.

Drake Caggiula continued his strong Camp in Calgary with a first-period rush that resulted in a hooking penalty and Edmonton’s go-ahead goal at 7:55 of the opening frame. Ben Gleason linked up with Mike Hoffman, who levelled a one-timer from the left circle that beat Vladar clean to the far post for the 1-0 advantage.

Arvidsson collected the second helper, but the lead was enjoyed by the Oilers for only 47 seconds.

The Flames equalized off a fortunate bounce on a missed shot from defenceman Mackenzie Weegar at the blueline, seeing his shot bounce off the boards behind the Oilers net and fall right onto the tape of Nazem Kadri to make it 1-1 before the midway mark of the opening frame.

SECOND PERIOD

Edmonton

The Flames took command in the middle frame of Monday’s tilt at Rogers Place despite some early chances for the Oilers from some of their young standouts so far in Camp.

Vasily Podkolzin nearly made the Flames pay for a careless turnover in their own zone, but the Russian’s wide-open look from the slot was parried away by the right shoulder of Cooley to keep it 2-0 for Calgary early in the first.

Philp produced another scoring chance with a sweet backhand feed from the left side that found the twig of Raphael Lavoie in front, but last season’s leading goalscorer for the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors couldn’t beat the resilient Cooley, who was have putting together a strong performance in between the pipes in Edmonton.

Alongside elite company in Leon Draisaitl on Monday night, Lavoie looked a real force offensively by showing off his wicked rease on a number of scoring chances as he fights to make a name for himself at the NHL level with the Oilers. The Chambly, QC product picked up a goal in Sunday night’s 3-2 overtime win against the Jets.

“I thought he played really well. He had a lot of good shots,” Knoblauch said. “He could’ve had a couple of goals, but the goalie made some really key saves on him. But I thought he played really well. That’s two games where he’s been involved in the offence and made some plays.”

Calgary took advantage of their netminder’s composure and scored three goals over the final 13 minutes of the second period – first on a power-play point shot from defenceman Rasmus Andersson that struck the right post and crossed the line behind Pickard for the 3-0 advantage. Forward Matt Coronato then managed to sneak in a wrist shot under the right arm of Pickard 1:01 later to put the Flames up by a four-spot.

Pickard’s night came to a close with a final stat line of 11 saves on 15 shots before goaltender Brett Brochu came in for Oilers to tend the twine for the second half, making four saves before the intermission. But the Oilers would find some life ahead of the break on a classic set-up by Connor McDavid to connect with Zach Hyman.

The Oilers captain floated a saucer pass into the middle for the streaking Hyman, who placed his shot over the stretched-out Cooley before crashing head first into the Calgary net in classic Hyman style.

The Flames led 4-1 through 40 minutes in Edmonton, while things weren’t going much better for the Blue & Orange up Highway 2.

Calgary

The connection between Connor Zary and Mikael Backlund for the Flames was causing headaches for the Oilers in Calgary, contributing to a 5-1 lead for the hosts at Scotiabank Saddledome during the second intermission.

Backlund sauced a pass to Zary just past the five-minute mark of the middle stanza for a deflection inside the right post beyond Rodrigue that sparked a three-goal stretch for the Flames to finish the period. Zary netted his second of the match with a snap shot during five-on-four almost three minutes later after the Oilers began to run into penalty trouble with back-to-back penalties, including 22 seconds down five-on-three.

Arvidsson ripped a shot wide on a clear-cut breakaway for Edmonton’s best chance of pulling a goal back, but after Backlund had another back-door feed to Zary stopped later in the period, it was Daniil Miromanov who snapped the ensuing rebound past Rodrigue for the 4-1 lead.

Before the intermission, defenceman Josh Brown was responsible for a turnover below the Oilers goal line that contributed to Kadri finding Yegor Sharangovich wide open in front of the crease for a snap shot that solved Rodrigue for the fifth time on Monday.

Trailing 5-1 through 40 mintues in Calgary, netminder Nathan Day would come out after the second intermission to play the final period after Rodrigue finished his pre-season shift with 20 saves on 25 shots.

THIRD PERIOD

Edmonton

The Oilers made it interesting, but Cooley remained as cool as he could be.

Edmonton started the final frame in Oil Country with a bit of luck on a pass from defenceman Noel Hoefenmayer from the right circle that struck the shin pad of Joni Jurmo in front of the crease and crossed the line to provide a spark to the bench with 19 mintues still remaining to make the most of Monday’s pre-season contest.

Coronato got it back only 32 seconds later off a Flames’ zone entry that saw of his linemates Samuel Honzek and Justin Kirkland touch the puck before it popped out to the right winger on the right side for a wrist shot that beat Brochu at the far post.

Kirkland continued his strong offensive night for the Flames by scoring 3:44 later on a rebound off the initial shot from Walker Duehr, rounding out his stat line with a goal and two assists.

When Edmonton did get on the power play for only the second time in the contest at 12:05 of the final frame, their star-studded power play led by their captain went to work and inevitable scored after McDavid endtered the Flames zone and ripped a wrist shot low glove to solve Cooley and make it a 6-3 scoreline.

On another power play almost three-and-a-half minutes later, Cooley would make another incredible save against the captain to firmly entrench himself as the game’s First Star with 44 total saves on 47 shots in the victory.

Calgary

Despite two third-period power plays, the Oilers conceded a sixth to the Flames shorthanded after letting Sharangovich skate through the neutral zone and walk over the blueline before beating Day with his wicked release to cap off the 6-1 victory.