The Calgary Flames’ four-game winning streak came to a hard stop Wednesday night, and the damage showed up fast on the scoreboard. Edmonton beat Calgary 4-0 at Rogers Place in the latest Battle of Alberta, with the Oilers cashing in on early chances, a third-period power play, and a couple of costly mistakes that blew the game open.
Calgary was chasing a fifth straight win, but the night turned the moment starting goaltender Devin Cooley had to leave after taking contact in the opening period. Cooley had made his fifth consecutive start before handing things over to Dustin Wolf, and the Flames never found a way to settle in offensively against Tristan Jarry, who stopped all 24 shots for the shutout.
Edmonton set the tone first at 7:46 of the opening period. Connor McDavid stretched his NHL-record assist streak to begin a season to 13 games with a cross-seam feed to Mathieu Joseph, and Joseph finished it with a shot past Cooley for the 1-0 lead.
After Wolf entered following the first period, the Oilers wasted little time adding to it. At 4:52 of the second, Edmonton struck off an offensive-zone faceoff win when Mattias Ekholm fired from the blue line and got the puck through traffic to make it 2-0.
The Flames still had a window when the third period began, but that window slammed shut almost immediately. Kevin Bahl went to the box for tripping just 55 seconds into the frame, and Edmonton made it count. McDavid attacked the net and slipped the puck to Kasperi Kapanen, who one-timed it past Wolf for a three-goal cushion.
Then came the dagger. Just 21 seconds later, a defensive miscue by Jake Middleton created a turnover, Jason Dickinson found Alex Formenton across the seam, and Formenton beat Wolf high to push the lead to 4-0.
Calgary never managed a response, and Jarry handled the rest without much trouble as Edmonton snapped the Flames’ winning run.
The Flames also had injury concerns beyond Cooley. Othmann left after his early fight with Emberson and was later listed with an upper-body injury, while Cooley was said to have a lower-body injury. That left Calgary dealing with two losses on the night, both on the ice and on the injury report.
For Calgary, the breakdowns were the most costly part of the evening. The game was still within reach entering the third period, but the penalty and the turnover turned a manageable deficit into a steep climb, and against McDavid and the Oilers’ attack, there was no room for error.
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