EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Nazem Kadri scored in the eighth round of a shootout to give the Calgary Flames a 4-3 comeback victory over Edmonton on Wednesday night, spoiling Oilers star Leon Draisaitl’s 400th NHL goal.
After Draisaitl and Morgan Frost each scored in the second round of the tiebreaker, the next 11 shooters failed before Kadri slipped a backhander past Stuart Skinner to end the season opener.
Playing his 791st regular-season game, Draisaitl gave the Oilers a 3-0 lead at 8:32 of the second period. He tapped in David Tomasek’s cross-crease feed, with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also assisting.
Draisaitl also had an assist to push his points total to 958. The 29-year-old German star is the 111th player in NHL history to score 400 goals.
Matvei Gridin scored in his NHL debut to start the Calgary rally and Connor Zary and Blake Coleman added goals. Dustin Wolf made 32 saves.
Nugent-Hopkins and former Calgary forward Andrew Mangiapane also scored for the Oilers, coming off consecutive Stanley Cup Finals losses to the Florida Panthers. Mangiapane played for Washington last season after seven years with the Flames.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins opened the scoring on a power play at 9:53 of the first period, poking the puck in to cap a nifty passing play with linemates Connor McDavid and Draisaitl.
Mangiapane made it 2-0 with 3:49 left in the period, beating Wolf with a snap shot from the left side. McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins assisted.
After Draisaitl made it 3-0, Gridin countered for the Flames with 7:40 left in the second, firing a centering pass that deflected off Edmonton’s Noah Philp and past Skinner. The Flames took the 19-year-old Russian forward with the 28th overall pick in 2024.
Zary pulled Calgary within one on a power play with 5:13 left in the period, batting the puck in for a goal that survived a video review for a high stick. Coleman tied it 40 seconds into the third, poking the puck between Skinner’s legs after the goalie fumbled Zary’s lob from the blue line.
Edmonton killed off a penalty late in regulation that spilled over into overtime. Calgary then fended off a power play late in OT.
Up next
Flames: At Vancouver on Thursday night.
Oilers: Host Vancouver on Saturday night.
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