Oilers rookies Ike Howard, Matt Savoie get involved in their own ways against Flames

For the rookie Edmonton Oilers who got their first taste of the NHL on Sunday night, the 21st night of September will be one they will always remember. 

Especially those Oilers who went down the highway to visit the Calgary Flames’ more veteran-laden squad. Well, it turns out the kids were alright as they stunned a sloppy Flames side 3-0.

Kasperi Kapanen got the party started minutes into the game when he and his linemates on the top line, Curtis Lazar and Ike Howard, broke into the Flames zone. With Oilers general manager Stan Bowman in the Saddledome press box, presumably to get a look at Howard and other pieces, a nice stop along the wall from The Iceman allowed him to feed a pass through a Flames defender, giving Kapanen a partial breakaway to capitalize on.

Connor Clattenburg, who would fight Nick Cicek later in the third, would be left with too much space early in the frame, scoring from the slot, as defenceman Riley Stillman would jump with a goal of his own, set up by Beau Akey and Noah Philp.

Up north, the game would be decided in overtime as Morgan Frost would secure a 3-2 win for the Flames with a two-goal performance, including the game-winner. Darnell Nurse got on the board early set up by Matvey Petrov, who latter scored a pinball goal off the back of Ivan Prosvetov.

Rookie Matt Savoie lined up alongside Trent Frederic and Vasily Podkolzin on the Oilers’ top line in Edmonton. While he didn’t get on the scoresheet, he found himself alongside Frederic on a penalty kill unit, a potential indication of a spot he could be used this season.

“I thought he did a really good job,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said of Savoie’s game. “It’s a new system for all our players, not something that he did last year, but I think for him, he’s a smart hockey player. He’s very quick. On the penalty kill, you’d like to have a little more reach. That becomes beneficial at times, but he definitely has quickness and smarts.”

There’s been no roster trimming from the Oilers as of Monday’s lunch hour, but with a big training camp roster of 55 players, it’s safe to say those will begin soon.

The Oilers pre-season continues Tuesday when they visit the Winnipeg Jets.