Calgary took a 1-0 lead in the third period but the Oilers responded with goals by Denis Grebeshkov and Dustin Penner to rally and defeat the Calgary Flames 2-1 Saturday night at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

"Really good effort by the team. We didn't have a lot of legs but showed a lot of heart," said Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish after the game.

"We started okay in the first, then in the second they looked like they were starting to take it to us. But midway through the second we showed we were leaving it all on the ice tonight," he continued. "Great effort by the team."

5:43 into the third period, Matthew Lombardi scored to put Calgary in front. He took a cross-ice pass from Wayne Primeau and wristed it from the right faceoff circle behind Roloson.

1:07 later, the Oilers struck to tie the game at 1-1. Denis Grebeshkov showed remarkable patience as he skated in from the point before slipping the puck along the ice past Kiprusoff and into the corner of the net.

Edmonton had an opportunity to take the lead with 10:19 to go in the third period after Jim Vandermeer cross-checked Brodziak into the end boards from behind.

On that power play, they connected to take their first lead of the night. Hemsky found Penner who wired a wrister from the right circle for the goal.

A couple minutes later, Pisani almost potted the insurance marker as he wristed it from the slot. Kiprusoff made a nice save, kicking the puck out.

Owen Nolan had a great opportunity to tie it but Roloson flashed the glove and snagged it out of mid-air. It was one of many great saves on the night by the Oilers netminder.

"It was a huge effort from Roli," said MacTavish. "We needed that great effort from him tonight."

With two minutes left, Reasoner and Pisani skated in on a two-on-one. Reasoner was knocked over by Aucoin during his attempted shot but Kiprusoff still had to be sharp to kick out his left pad and make the stop.

Going back the other way, Dion Phaneuf fired a bullet from the left point that Roloson pulled down with his glove hand. Roloson stopped Phaneuf again right off the faceoff, blocking his shot with his shoulder.

Calgary came within inches of scoring with 45 seconds left in the third. The point shot was tipped on its way to the net before going off the post behind Roloson. Gilbert then cleared it out of harm's way before any Flames player could pounce on the rebound.

"You can't have that happen to you twice in two days," said MacTavish. "That's as close as you can get to having it happen to you. It was a good break for us."

Jarome Iginla was gunning for his 50th of the season early in the game, rifling a shot from the right circle on Dwayne Roloson but the Oilers goaltender came across to get his glove on the puck.

Edmonton's best chance in the opening minutes came on a redirection in front of the net by Jarret Stoll. Penner wristed it from the point but Stoll redirected it just wide. The puck inched off the end of Stoll's stick and skirted just past Kiprusoff on his blocker side.

However, Craig Conroy received a hooking penalty on the play to put Edmonton up a man for the first time on the night.

On the ensuing power play, Nilsson's shot from the left circle just missed the net but it bounced off the end boards to Cogliano who threw it in front to Pisani. Kiprusoff did a spread eagle along the ice to keep the puck out.

Calgary was able to kill off the penalty as that was as close as the Oilers would get to scoring the game's first goal during the two-minute span.

10:20 into the first, Zack Stortini dropped the gloves with Jim Vandermeer. Both combatants got plenty of punches during the spirited fight with Vandermeer getting the edge on the Oilers forward.

The Oilers took a too many men on the ice penalty with 4:51 to go in the first period, putting Calgary on the power play for the first time.

With 42 seconds left in that penalty, Kyle Brodziak cleared the puck into the crowd from his own zone to put the Oilers down two men.

On the power play, Staios went down to block two shots from Dion Phaneuf and seemed in considerable pain but continued to help the Oilers' PK unit keep the game scoreless.

Shots on goal after one period were 10 to 7 for Calgary.

Early in the second, Jarome Iginla got in behind the Oilers defence but Denis Grebeshkov caught up to the Flames captain and ensured he didn't get a clear shot on net.

Edmonton's best chance of the opening 10 minutes of the period came off the stick of Marc Pouliot as he fired a laser from the right faceoff dot that was gloved by Kiprusoff.

Roloson stopped Iginla several minutes later with a blocker save after Iginla backhanded it dangerously from the right hash marks.

With 1:01 left in the second period, Cory Sarich crunched Tom Gilbert into the side boards at the blue line, receiving a penalty for tripping to put Edmonton back on the power play. That man advantage carried over to the third period.

Shots on goal after two periods were 21 to 14 in favour of the Flames.

NOTES: Joni Pitkanen left the game early in the second period due to a groin injury and will not return...