Dougie Hamilton is closing out an impressive performance in a disappointing season for the Calgary Flames.

Hamilton’s league-leading 17th goal by a defenseman helped Calgary snap a seven-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.

”Quick release. (His shot) comes on you in a hurry Lee Smith Jersey ,” said Flames goaltender Mike Smith, who only has to stare it down in practice. ”He changes the angle really well. He’s definitely got a good shot.”

Mikael Backlund had a goal and an assist and Garnet Hathaway also scored to help Calgary to its first win since a 1-0 victory over Edmonton on March 13. Michael Frolik added two assists, and Smith stopped 34 shots.

Anton Slepyshev and Mike Cammalleri scored for Edmonton. Cam Talbot gave up three goals on seven shots before he was pulled 15 1/2 minutes in with the Oilers trailing 3-1. Al Montoya came on and stopped all 13 shots he faced.

Edmonton grabbed the lead on Slepyshev’s sixth of the season 2:41 into the first, but the Flames responded with three goals in less than nine minutes.

Hamilton got it started with a wicked 30-foot wrist shot that beat Talbot at 6:43 on the Oilers’ first shot on goal. Hamilton has 13 goals since Jan. 1, tying him with Sean Monahan for second on the team behind Matthew Tkachuk in that stretch.

”It’s so heavy and his release is quick, he doesn’t need a wind-up to get the velocity on it. I thought Dougie had an excellent game,” Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said.

Hathaway put the Flames in front at 11:54, beating Talbot on a wrist shot inside the post from nearly 60 feet out. The short-handed goal was Hathaway’s first goal in 42 games.

Backlund neatly pulled the puck around Talbot and fired in his 14th goal of the season with 4:32 remaining in the first. That was it for Talbot.

”It wasn’t his best night,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. ”If we could get one of them back, we’d take it. But he’s been tremendous. In the last six weeks, he’s been a rock for our team.”

The Oilers were the much better team in the second period, outshooting Calgary 12-5 and narrowing the deficit to 3-2 on Cammalleri’s deflection with 7:19 left.

”A tale of two teams. First period, not good, nothing to be proud of,” said Cammalleri, who hadn’t scored since Dec. 28. ”Second two (periods) Cassius Marsh Jersey , probably more how we want to play.”

In one sequence, Edmonton had three odd-man rushes within the same penalty kill, but it only got one shot out of it. On consecutive 2-on-1s, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl failed each time to get a shot on goal.

Early in the third, the same duo combined again, but Draisaitl rang a shot off the post.

NOTES: McDavid, the NHL’s leading scorer, failed to pick up a point, snapping his six-game scoring streak (seven goals, seven assists). … Edmonton was 0 for 5 on the power play. Calgary was 0 for 3 and fell to 1 for 47 over the last 16 games. … Calgary F Johnny Gaudreau returned to the lineup after missing two games (family matter). His line centered by Nick Shore also had Edmonton-born Spencer Foo, who made his NHL debut. … With the Travis Hamonic (upper body) out, Matt Bartkowski returned to the lineup after being scratched 45 of the previous 46 games.

UP NEXT

Oilers: At Minnesota on Monday night before closing the season with two home games.

Flames: Host Arizona on Tuesday night.

With a few shorts blasts of a horn, the intricate steel structure came to life. Slowly, the eight mammoth pods above Mercedes-Benz Stadium began to slide along railroad-like tracks, revealing the towering downtown skyline off to the east, the glimmering gold dome of the state capitol to the south Trey Flowers Jersey , and a brilliant blue sky sprinkled with puffy, white clouds overhead.

Eight minutes later, it was fully open.

Nearly a year after the ballyhooed opening of the $1.5 billion stadium, the retractable roof finally is open for business.

”We never had any doubt that this was going to work,” said Mike Egan, who oversaw construction of the stadium. ”But to see it open – now I don’t have to show up at cocktails and have people ask me about the roof anymore. That’s what I’m most excited about.”

A process that took far longer than expected – and produced plenty of ridicule about whether the complex, camera lens-like design would ever work – finally paid off Wednesday when stadium officials showed off the finished product.

The roof opened quicker than the projected 12 minutes in its original design, and only needed about seven minutes to close. Stadium officials also insisted that leaking issues, which embarrassingly turned up during last season’s college football national championship game, had been corrected.

The massive project, which broke ground in May 2014, is officially completed.

That means this season’s Super Bowl could be held with the roof open if the NFL deems the weather outside to be acceptable.

”It’s working just exactly the way it’s supposed to,” Egan said. ”We can’t wait until the fans are in here. They’re going to be blown away.”

The first demonstration of the fully functioning roof for the general public is set for Sunday, when the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons will hold a training camp practice at the stadium. Some 50,000 fans are expected.

Egan said he never had any doubts about the roof working, but additional modifications were needed after the stadium opened last August. That meant the roof has been closed for all but three events – last season’s Falcons opener and two games for Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United DeAndre Washington Jersey , who already have set numerous attendance records in their new home .

In essence, Egan said, more flexibility had to be built into the eight pods, each weighing roughly 500 tons, to ensure they didn’t burn out the motors that power the process. He said the modifications added slightly to the already costly price tag, but would be paid for entirely by Falcons and United owner Arthur Blank, not by the taxpayers.

To mark the roof’s belated completion, several dozen media members were taken to the top of the stadium – 300 feet above the field – for a first-hand look at the unique structure.

The massive pods were remarkably quiet as they slid along a pair of tracks in perfect synchronization. Other than a warning horn that wailed at the beginning of the movements, the only other real sound atop the roof was a comforting breeze on a day when the temperature climbed near 90 degrees.

The views of the city were spectacular from up above, but this wasn’t a perspective that fans will have on game day.

The media tour required a grueling hike to the top of the upper deck, two more climbs up a pair of metal staircases used by employees only, broken up a harrowing walk along a catwalk that would challenge anyone with a fear of heights.

At the end, there a steep, ladder-like staircase to navigate, akin to what one might find on a naval ship, to get through a small portal that opened up to the sprawling roof.

After plans were announced to build a new retractable-roof stadium to replace the Georgia Dome Jonathan Cooper Jersey , which was only 25 years old, Mercedes-Benz Stadium was awarded three major events in its first three years.

This past January, Alabama defeated Georgia in an overtime thriller to win college football’s national championship . The upcoming NFL season will conclude in Atlanta with the city’s third Super Bowl. Finally, in 2020, the stadium will host the Final Four of men’s college basketball.

In 2026, Mercedes-Benz Stadium is likely to be one of the prime venues for the world’s biggest sporting event, soccer’s World Cup . The winning bid submitted by the United States, Mexico and Canada included a provisional schedule with six games being played in Atlanta, including a semifinal.

Now, the stadium also has a roof that opens.

”This architectural icon that is coming online as of today, it’s only going to take our fan experience to the next level,” said Steve Cannon, chief executive officer of Blank’s AMB Group. ”We’re really excited about what the future holds for Mercedes-Benz Stadium and all the big events we have planned over the coming months and the coming years.”

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