The Edmonton Oilers wrapped up the preseason in style on Saturday, knocking off the Calgary Flames 4-1 to finish 4-0-0. And they did it with the kind of performance that showed exactly why this group spent the month looking a step ahead of everyone else.
The first goal took a while to arrive, but once Edmonton got rolling, the game tilted fast. With a little over three minutes left in the opening period, Connor McDavid worked the puck near the point and drove down low on the power play. Zach Hyman had already muscled Yan Kuznetsov out of the way, leaving McDavid room to make his play, and Hyman did what he’s done so often in an Oilers sweater by tapping it home for a 1-0 lead.
Edmonton kept stacking shifts after that. Eight minutes into the second period, a Flames defender misplayed a keep-in attempt and turned it into an odd-man rush the other way. Vasily Podkolzin moved it to Leon Draisaitl, and Draisaitl fed McDavid all alone at the side of the net for the 2-0 goal.
Later in the period, with about six and a half minutes remaining, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins found Kasperi Kapanen trailing into the zone. Kapanen didn’t have a clean passing lane, so he kept moving behind the net and sent it back to Ryan Shea at the point. Shea beat the goalie for the second time this preseason, and Edmonton went up 3-0.
The Flames finally got on the board after the Oilers got into penalty trouble midway through the third period. But the answer came quickly. Less than two minutes later, Nugent-Hopkins sent a sharp outlet pass to Kapanen, who squeezed it past Dustin Wolf to restore the three-goal cushion at 4-1.
There was plenty to pull from the night beyond the score line. Loading McDavid and Draisaitl together is not something that should be expected to last long term, especially without a true second-line centre, but the pairing was overwhelming in this game.
At five-on-five, they drove a pile of high-danger chances and outshot Calgary badly while on the ice. Once Matthew Savoie returns, the two need to be separated.
The power play looked every bit as dangerous as it did last season, too. The top unit of McDavid, Draisaitl, Hyman, Nugent-Hopkins, and Evan Bouchard needed just one chance to strike, and it delivered the opening goal.
Devon Levi also gave the Oilers something they’ve been looking for in net. He stopped 23 of 24 shots for a .958 save percentage and turned aside a breakaway along the way. For Edmonton, that kind of steadiness matters.
Kapanen was one of the night’s standout performers, finishing with a goal and an assist. On the setup, he showed patience and awareness to find the right option.
On the goal, his quick feet did the damage. If he ever finds real consistency, he could become a major piece of the middle six.
Nugent-Hopkins also chipped in with two assists.
Shea has been hard to miss through his two preseason appearances. He flashed against the Winnipeg Jets in the opener, then added another goal here, making for a strong early impression.
Trent Frederic didn’t show up on the scoresheet, but he was in the middle of several scrums. That edge is part of his value when he’s at his best, and it was something he didn’t bring enough of last season.
Isaac Howard, meanwhile, had another quiet night. He logged 12:39 of ice time and didn’t do much with his opportunity, even though he started alongside Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins. For a player trying to win a job out of camp, that wasn’t ideal.
The games start for real on Tuesday, when the Oilers host the Vancouver Canucks in the series opener at 8:00 PM MT.
In Other News...
Oilers May Have Found A Blue Line Steal In This Trade
Shakir Mukhamadullin is starting to look like more than a throw-in from the Darnell Nurse deal. Mike Babcock has been openly upbeat about the new defensemans early work, pointing to the size, skating and passing that make him fit the kind of blue-line game Edmonton wants to play. For a team that has spent plenty of time searching for affordable help on defense, that kind of first impression matters.
The Oilers brought Mukhamadullin and Zack Sharp back in the trade with San Jose, and Mukhamadullins contract gives the club some cost control for the next couple of seasons. What makes this situation worth watching now is how quickly he has put himself in the conversation for a real role, with Babcock suggesting the organization has reason to be optimistic about where he fits. If he keeps building on that start, this could end up looking like one of those rare deadline moves that helps Edmonton on both the ice and the cap sheet. [Read more 🡒]
One Oilers Preseason Game Just Shook Up A Brutal Roster Battle
The Oilers closed preseason with a 4-1 win over the Flames, the kind of tidy result that can still carry real weight when roster spots are hanging in the balance. Owen Michaels, Kasperi Kapanen, Isaac Howard and Devon Levi all left a mark on the game, and in a camp where every shift gets replayed in the coaches' minds, that matters just as much as the final score.
Michaels put together a steady showing that should only help his case as decisions get tighter, while the forward combinations kept shifting around him. Kapanen slid into a second-line role and stayed there, leaving Howard with a smaller part in the night, and Levi added another layer to the goaltending discussion with a strong outing of his own. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Could Reunite The Dach Brothers If One Hurdle Changes
As the Oilers finish shaping their roster for the season ahead, one name has emerged as a possible fit in Montreal Canadiens forward Kirby Dach. NHL insider Frank Seravalli says Edmonton has shown strong interest in bringing in the young center, a move that would not only add another forward to the mix but also create a rare family storyline, since the Oilers already have Kirbys brother, Colton Dach, in the organization.
The catch is the kind that tends to keep trade talk in the speculative lane for a while. Montreal is believed to be asking a steep price for Dach, and Calgary is also said to be in the conversation, which only adds to the competition. For Edmonton, the appeal is obvious, but the path to making it happen still depends on whether the asking price comes down enough to give the Oilers a real chance. [Read more 🡒]