EDMONTON — Matt Coronato is making his case to become a full-time Calgary Flame.
Coronato scored a pair of goals and Jonathan Huberdeau recorded three assists as the Flames remained perfect in NHL pre-season play, defeating the hometown Edmonton Oilers 6-3 in one of a pair of split-squad games between the provincial rivals on Monday night.
“We built a lead which was nice. We saw their lineup, they had a lot of their main guys in,” said Flames assistant coach Brad Larsson. “I’m proud of the guys, it’s been a hard camp, we played in Seattle and some of these guys are playing back-to-back, which is really tough. A guy like Matt Coronato had a heck of a game for us and played there last night and was going off about four or five hours sleep.”
A Harvard alum and 13th overall pick by Calgary in the 2021 NHL entry draft, Coronato split his time between the Flames and their AHL affiliate, getting into 34 NHL games and notching three goals and six assists.
“It’s always nice to come out and win against a good team. I think we worked really hard as a group, we played the right way and I think that work ethic led to success again,” Coronato said. “The start was huge for us and really I thought the team continued to play well throughout.”
Yan Kuznetsov, Anthony Mantha, Rasmus Andersson and Justin Kirkland also scored for the Flames, who improved to 3-0 in exhibition action after also winning the game between the two teams in Calgary 6-1.
Zach Hyman, Noel Hoefenmayer and Connor McDavid replied for the Oilers, who dropped to 1-2 in pre-season proceedings.
“I thought the legs got better and better as the game went on, it was more the battling and stuff,” McDavid said. “You can skate up and down the rink all day, but it is the battling at that level that is tough. It was obviously not good enough all around. There is lots to work on.”
The Oilers came out flying, but it was Calgary that struck first seven minutes into the opening period as the Flames were allowed to get a couple of shots on Edmonton goalie Calvin Pickard before converting on their third crack on net, as Kuznetsov wired it home.
Edmonton had a chance to get the equalizer with three minutes remaining in the first period, but Devin Cooley made a huge stop on Oilers forward Corey Perry.
Calgary made it 2-0 with 1:38 left in the first on a two-on-one as Huberdeau dished it back to Mantha, who had a wide-open net to blast it into.
The Flames continued to stymie the home squad on the power play seven minutes into the second period as Andersson unleashed a bullet from the point that went off the post and in.
Just a minute later it was 4-0 for the Flames as Coronato took a drop pass and sent a wicked wrist shot past Pickard.
Brett Brochu took over in the Edmonton net midway through the second.
Cooley continued his strong play with five minutes left in the middle period, making another huge save on Leon Draisaitl.
Edmonton finally got on the board with 2:43 remaining in the second period as McDavid made a nice feed to Hyman and he lifted it over Cooley.
The Oilers got another one back less than a minute into the third period as Hoefenmayer was credited with the goal after it caromed in off a Flames defender.
However, Calgary got that goal back just 32 seconds later as Sam Honzek dropped it back to Coronato and he blasted in his second of the contest.
The Flames restored their four-goal lead four minutes into the third as a huge rebound came out to Kirkland, who had an empty cage to rifle it into.
Edmonton’s power play finally got an opportunity and made the most of it with seven minutes to play as McDavid took it in himself and used a defender as a screen before sending a wrist shot past Cooley.
The Oilers outshot Calgary 47-26.
NOTES
Edmonton had both McDavid and Draisaitl in their lineup, as well as their entire first power-play unit that has proven so deadly for the past three seasons. … The Oilers had most of their veterans in action between the two split-squad games, other than Stuart Skinner, Darnell Nurse, Brett Kulak, Connor Brown, Mattias Janmark and Ty Emberson.
UP NEXT
Oilers: Visit the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.
Flames: Face the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday in Abbotsford, B.C.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2024.
Shane Jones, The Canadian Press