Zach Hyman had a goal and an assist while Leon Draisaitl added two additional assists as the Edmonton Oilers won an outdoor version of the Battle of Alberta 5-2 over the Calgary Flames in the 7th NHL Heritage Classic Sunday evening at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium, traditionally the home of the Canadian Football League's (CFL) Edmonton Elks. This game is held every 4 years and is usually only contested between the NHL's Canadian franchises, unlike the similar Stadium Series and Winter Classic, which takes place every year and can be between teams from both sides of the North American border.
Brett Kulak was first on the board for the Oilers, making it 1-0 4:19 into the first period. Edmonton would double their lead at 9:38, with Hyman making it 2-0 before the Flames cut that lead in half with a tally from Nazem Kadri at 14:55 on the power play. Edmonton would make it 3-1 before the end of the period, though, courtesy of Evan Bouchard at 16:06. Not much happened in the 2nd period, other than Calgary pulling within 1 after a goal from A.J. Greer at 14:41. Heading to the 3rd period, it would be all Oilers as Vincent Desharnais' first of the season at 6:16 and then Evander Kane's empty netter at 19:19 sealed a convincing 5-2 victory for the home team.
This marks just the 3rd instance of the total 7 Heritage Classics with a home team victor, the others coming in 2011 in Calgary with the Flames shutting out the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 at the home of the CFL's Calgary Stampeders, 2019 (a 2-1 overtime victory for Winnipeg over Calgary, played in Regina, Saskatchewan at Mosaic Stadium, home to the CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders; IG Field, the home of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers had already hosted the previous one as a matter of fact, a 3-0 Oilers win over the Jets), and technically, last year's 5-2 Buffalo win over Toronto in Hamilton, Ontario at Tim Hortons Field, home to the Hamilton Ti-Cats. (I guess they couldn't decide between Tigers or Wildcats. And yes, you'd think Toronto would be the home team in that one, given it was in their own province, but it wasn't. Whatever.)
Anyway, Edmonton improves to 2-5-1 and 6th of 8 in the Pacific Division and heads back to Rogers Arena for their next contest, a clash with Western Conference power Dallas on November 2, with puck drop scheduled for 9 pm. Calgary, meanwhile, drops to 2-6-1 and 7th of 8 in the Pacific while suffering their 5th straight loss after starting 2-1-1. Their next contest sees them visit Seattle on November 4, with a 10 pm puck drop.
Team Stats:
Shots: CGY 27, EDM 34
Hits: CGY 23, EDM 30
Faceoff Wins: CGY 29, EDM 35
PIM: CGY 4, EDM 12
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