Mason Raymond nets hat trick to as Flames spoil Oilers' opener
It didn't take long for Mason Raymond to make a major impact with the Calgary Flames.
Raymond scored three goals and the Flames ruined the season opener for their provincial rivals, beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Thursday night.
"Those two points were huge for us," Raymond said after his third career hat trick. "It got us in the win column and trending in the right direction. We let them back into it after a good start, but we battled back hard and that showed some character."
Calgary signed the 29-year-old Raymond to a three-year deal in the offseason, hoping he can help replace some of the offense lost when Michael Cammalleri left as a free agent.
Flames forward Mikael Backlund said Raymond's performance was a good sign, especially considering the newcomer was limited to just a pair of preseason games because of a lower-body injury.
"Great to see him get those goals," Backlund said. "Just like me, he missed most of camp, so it is nice to see him get a confidence boost."
Jiri Hudler and T.J. Brodie also scored for the Flames, who lost 4-2 at home to Vancouver in their first game Wednesday night.
Karri Ramo made 38 saves for the win.
"I was lucky a few times," Ramo said. "It was a real battle for us. We figured it out at the end and we kept on battling and working harder than them. That is how it is going to have to be the whole year. We have to be the harder-working team."
Teddy Purcell and Taylor Hall scored for the Oilers.
"That's a frustrating way to start the season," Edmonton coach Dallas Eakins said. "I thought we had a ton of good in our game. ... Our power play was excellent.
"I'm not going to walk out here and say we played (poorly), because we didn't. But we lost the game and that's unacceptable."
Calgary silenced the home crowd early with a goal 3 minutes into the game when Joe Colborne made a nice feed to Mark Giordano in the slot. Giordano's shot was tipped by Raymond past Edmonton goalie Ben Scrivens. It was Raymond's 100th career NHL goal.
Exactly a minute later, the Flames went up 2-0 when Sean Monahan got the puck on a defensive miscue behind the Edmonton net and passed in front to Hudler, who scored on Calgary's third shot.
"We feel like we came with the right game plan and for the most part executed. That (slow start) happens," Hall said. "I thought we did a pretty good job of recovering and sticking to our game plan throughout the game. We definitely gave up some Grade A chances, that's for sure, but hope to shore those up and keep doing the things we did well."
Edmonton got back into the game with 7 minutes left in the first period with a power-play goal. David Perron made a long pass to Purcell at the opposite faceoff dot and he fired a shot past Ramo.
The Oilers outshot Calgary 14-7 through the first 20 minutes.
Edmonton tied it with 8-1/2 minutes remaining in the second period as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins crisscrossed with Hall on a two-man advantage and Hall unleashed a shot into the top corner to make it 2-all.
The shots favored Edmonton 25-11 at the end of the second period.
Calgary regained the lead 4-1/2 minutes into the third as Lance Bouma made a nice chip pass to send Raymond away on a partial breakaway. Raymond beat Scrivens high to the glove side for his second of the game.
The Flames put it away with 5 to go when Hudler saw Raymond charging hard to the net and sent the puck in front for a tip-in that gave Raymond his hat trick.
Brodie made it 5-2 on a scramble in front of the net in the final minute on a Calgary power play.
NOTES: Both teams return to action Saturday as the Oilers begin a three-game trip in Vancouver, while the Flames play the second of a six-game road swing in St. Louis. ... The Oilers played in front of Edmonton's 1984 Stanley Cup-winning squad, in town to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their first of five NHL titles in a seven-year span. Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Lee Fogolin dropped the puck before the game and will be featured in a special gala celebration on Friday at Rexall Place. ... The Flames announced that 2014 fourth overall pick Sam Bennett will undergo shoulder surgery next week and is expected to miss four to six months after getting injured in the preseason. ... The third overall pick from this year, Leon Draisaitl, made his debut for the Oilers. ... Calgary made a pair of significant lineup changes after its loss Wednesday. Raphael Diaz replaced Dennis Wideman on defense, and David Jones played up front in place of Brian McGrattan. ... Oilers defenseman Jeff Petry started the game after missing the entire preseason.
