2011-12 Game No. 72; Road Game No. 37

Flames Record: 34-26-12

FULL HIGHLIGHTS ›GIORDANO'S SCORES HIS 8TH› GAME GALLERY ›THE FIVE TAKEAWAYS ›

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CALGARYFLAMES.COM 3 STARS

1st STAR JORDAN EBERLE CENTER- EDM GOALS: 1 | ASST: 2 | SHOTS: 3 | +/-: +3 TOI: 20:08 | HITS: 2 VIDEO ›

2nd STAR RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS CENTER - EDM GOALS: 2 | ASST: 0 | SHOTS: 6 | +/-: +3 TOI: 21:32 | FACEOFF WINS: 7 (58%) VIDEO ›

3rd STAR CORY SARICH DEFENCE - CGY GOALS: 0 | ASST: 0 | SHOTS: 2 | +/-: 0 TOI: 19:36 | HITS: 6 VIDEO ›

EDMONTON, AB -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored a pair of goals and the Edmonton Oilers ended the Calgary Flames' five-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory Friday night.

Jordan Eberle had a goal and two assists for the Oilers, who won their second in a row.

Mark Giordano had the lone goal for the Flames, who remained in a tie for ninth place in the Western Conference with San Jose, a point behind eighth-place Colorado.

The game got off to a scary start as Oilers star Taylor Hall lost his balance and took a hard shot to the head from Flames defenseman Cory Sarich along the boards. Hall looked woozy as he was helped off the ice to the dressing room and did not return to the game.

The Flames came close to scoring 5 minutes into the game as Alex Tanguay slid a puck underneath Edmonton's Devan Dubnyk. The puck travelled along the goal line before hitting the post and being swiped away.

The Oilers took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period as Eberle made a backhand pass to Nugent-Hopkins, who sent a wrist shot past Calgary's Leland Irving for his 17th goal.

Edmonton took a two-goal lead with five minutes to play in the opening period as Eberle came out from the boards and sipped a shot into the top corner for his 31st.

Calgary had another good chance to cut into the lead when Tanguay got loose for a breakaway 8 minutes into the second, but he rang his shot off the post.

The Flames finally caught a big break with 8 minutes to play in the second as a point shot by Giordano hit a pair of Oilers on the way to the net, giving Dubnyk no chance on the play.

Edmonton restored its two-goal advantage midway through the third as the rebound from Ryan Jones' shot came to Nugent-Hopkins in front, and he slid his second goal of the game into a wide-open net.

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PHOTO OF THE GAME

BY THE NUMBERS

STAT OF THE NIGHT Cory Sarich was a wrecking ball on Friday night, throwing hits at any Oiler in his path. After his hit on Taylor Hall which knocked the forward out of the game, the Flames blueliner threw five more hits. Fellow defenceman Mark Giordano was runner-up in the hits department for the Flames, throwing three. FLAMES LEADERS Icetime - Bouwmeester (28:49) Shots - Giordano, Sarich, Iginla, Babchuk, Baertschi (2) Hits - Sarich (6) Blocks - Smith (3) Takeaways -- Tanguay (2) Faceoff Wins -- Stajan (7, 58%)

TWEET OF THE NIGHT: @LisaPerkins21: @NHLFlames Sarich is a force to be reckoned with tonight. Lets go boys. #Flames

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FLAMES LINEUP VS. EDMONTON
FORWARD LINES
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Alex Tanguay	Matt Stajan	Jarome Iginla
Curtis Glencross	Olli Jokinen	David Moss
Tom Kostopoulos	Greg Nemisz	Sven Baertschi
Blake Comeau	Roman Horak	Guillaume Desbiens

DEFENCE PAIRINGS
Left Defence	Right Defence
Jay Bouwmeester	Cory Sarich
Mark Giordano	Scott Hannan
Derek Smith	Anton Babchuk
Goaltenders: Miikka Kiprusoff, Leland Irving Starting Lineup: Irving, Hannan, Giordano, Tanguay, Stajan, Iginla

POWERPLAY UNITS
FORWARD LINES
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Curtis Glencross	Olli Jokinen	Jarome Iginla
Sven Baertschi	Matt Stajan	Blake Comeau

POINT MEN
Left Point	Right Point
Mark Giordano	Alex Tanguay

PENALTY KILL UNITS
FORWARD UNITS
Forward	Forward
Tom Kostopoulos	Curtis Glencross
Alex Tanguay	David Moss

DEFENCE PAIRINGS
Left Defence	Right Defence
Jay Bouwmeester	Cory Sarich
Mark Giordano	Scott Hannan