Flames prevail 9-6 in wild opening game in Battle of Alberta

Matthew Tkachuk scored a hat trick for the Calgary Flames in Wednesday’s 9-6 win over the Edmonton Oilers to open their playoff collection.

The NHL’s first playoff Battle of Alberta in 31 years compensated for its lengthy absence with an abundance of targets in Sport 1.

Blake Coleman scored twice for the Flames. Rasmus Andersson and Andrew Mangiapane every had a purpose and two assists.

Elias Lindholm and Brett Ritchie additionally scored for Calgary whereas goaltender Jacob Markstrom stopped 22 pictures for the win.

Zach Hyman scored twice for Edmonton. Connor McDavid produced his fourth straight multi-point recreation within the playoffs with a purpose and three assists.

Edmonton’s captain leads the league’s post-season factors race with 5 targets and 13 assists.

Leon Draisaitl had a purpose and two assists and Kailer Yamamoto and Evan Bouchard additionally scored for the Oilers.

Edmonton starter Mike Smith was pulled within the first interval after permitting three Calgary targets on 10 pictures. Mikko Koskinen made 32 saves in aid.

The winner of the best-of-seven collection advances to the Western Convention last.

Sport 2 is Friday on the Saddledome earlier than the collection heads to Edmonton for Sunday’s Sport 3 and Tuesday’s Sport 4.

Groups that take a 1-0 lead in a best-of-seven collection maintain a collection file of 503-232 (.684), based on NHL statisticians.

In a matchup of potent offences, the query forward of the collection was which group may maintain the puck on its sticks and spend extra time within the offensive zone.

Calgary dominated that division early. The Flames scored twice in a 25-second span within the first minute and led 3-0 by 6:05 when Smith was changed by Koskinen.

Calgary’s two targets within the opening 51 seconds was the quickest two targets to begin an NHL playoff recreation, and electrified a sea of crimson dotted with Oiler orange and blue on the Scotiabank Saddledome.

The Oilers wouldn’t go quietly, nonetheless.

The Flames had survived a goaltender-dominated, grinding collection with the Dallas Stars within the first spherical.

Wednesday’s Sport 1 was, against this, an open-ice observe meet of mediocre goaltending. The Flames held a 40-18 edge in pictures after two durations, however led 6-5 heading into the third.

Edmonton’s Yamamoto briefly tied the sport at 1:28 placing McDavid’s rebound over Markstrom’s outstretched pad.

Andersson regained the lead for Calgary at 2:57. Mangiapane from behind the online fed the all-alone defenceman whose wrist shot beat Koskinen’s glove.

Tkachuk gave the Flames a two-goal lead at 8:55 along with his second of the night time. He snared a Draisaitl turnover on the blue line and beat Koskinen five-hole on a breakaway.

Tkachuk scored into an empty web to finish his hat trick. Hats rained down onto the Saddledome ice and chants of “we would like 10” targets quickly adopted.

Draisaitl pulled the guests inside a purpose at 19:21 of the second interval when he beat Markstrom far facet on an odd-man rush with McDavid.

Hyman scored at 9:38 and 14:06 of the second interval. He circled out from behind the online and whipped the puck by Markstrom’s glove for his second.

Hyman skated the puck into Calgary’s finish, stopped and bought a shot away between defenceman Michael Stone’s legs that deflected off Markstrom and into the highest nook for his first.

Tkachuk batted in a rebound for a power-play purpose at 8:24 after Bouchard transformed a McDavid go at 7:10. McDavid spun off of Dillon Dube to get a cross-ice go away to Bouchard.

Zack Kassian’s roughing penalty after Bouchard’s purpose gave Calgary the man-advantage for Tkachuk’s purpose.

Coleman struck 45 seconds into the second interval and once more at 6:10 for a 5-1 Flames lead.

He redirected a Noah Hanifin shot for his second purpose and put a rebound over a inclined Koskinen throughout a scramble across the crease for his first.

McDavid glided in entrance of the online and patiently waited for Markstrom to commit earlier than tucking the puck between the goalie’s pads at 7:41 of the primary interval.

Ritchie scored his first profession playoff purpose at 6:05. He knocked Edmonton’s Evander Kane off the puck on the Oilers’ blue line, reached to gather the unfastened puck and bought a shot away beneath Smith’s arm.

From behind the online, Backlund dished to an undefended Mangiapane within the slot for the latter to beat Smith from shut vary 51 seconds after opening puck drop.

Lindholm transformed Calgary’s first shot of the sport right into a purpose 26 seconds after opening faceoff. He settled a bouncing puck off a cross-ice dish from Rasmus Andersson and swept it far facet over Smith’s glove.

The Flames have been minus prime shutdown defenceman Chris Tanev a second straight playoff recreation. He was injured in Sport 6 of Calgary’s first-round collection in opposition to Dallas.

Tanev skated in each Tuesday’s apply and in Wednesday’s morning skate, however didn’t costume for Sport 1.

Notes: Along with his 94th profession playoff win as a head coach, Darryl Sutter joined Pat Quinn ranked No. 6 all-time . . . With three assists in Sport 1, Johnny Gaudreau joined Jarome Iginla and Martin Gelinas (2004) amongst Flames to hold a six-game level streak within the playoffs . . . McDavid was the primary Oiler to attain a purpose in 4 straight post-season video games since Michael Peca and Shawn Horcoff in 2006 . . . The Crimson Lot fan zone adjoining to the Saddledome was closed Wednesday due to excessive winds . . . Sport 1 was the best scoring playoff recreation involving Calgary and Edmonton surpassing the earlier excessive of 12 targets scored in Sport 3 of the 1983 Smythe Division last.

This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Could 18, 2022.