EDMONTON - It was Halloween night, but that's not the reason Cam Talbot looked like he just saw a ghost.

The Edmonton Oilers goalie lost a little bit of color Saturday when he gave up one of the worst goals of his professional career, a back-breaking stunner from behind the goal line with 8.7 seconds left in regulation.

The fluke from Calgary Flames winger Michaek Frolik, his third of the night, gave the Flames a 5-4 victory at Rexall Place.

All this after the Oilers fought back to tie it on third-period goals from Ted Purcell and Leon Draisaitl.

"I saw (Frolik) look up at the net and knew he was going to try and bank it, I tried to hug the post the best I could and not give him any holes but he found one on me," said a visibly dejected Talbot.

"There's no excuses, that puck can't cross the line. Points aren't easy to come by and we did a great job of battling back in the third. It's just really deflating giving up that goal with eight seconds left.

"We were close to a point and able to fight for a second one (in OT) and we come out with nothing thanks to me."

The Flames, who improved to 3-8-1, desperately needed something good to happen and were simply glad it did, no matter what the circumstances.

"Michael Frolik gave us quite a game tonight," said head coach Bob Hartley, who wasn't sure they'd won it until the players started celebrating.

"From the bench we couldn't tell if the puck was inside the net or on the outside of the net, but once we saw the guys jump on the ice, so then we knew it was in, so it was a pretty good feeling."

A hat trick is always nice, but to get one against a provincial rival on the road to end a slump in the final seconds of regulation is as good as it gets.

"The Oilers came back, but we stuck with it," Hartley said. "It was a big goal and hopefully this is going to get us going and hopefully we can keep going."

The Oilers (4-8-0), who were feeling good after coming back from 3-0 down to beat the Montreal Canadiens two days earlier, realize they have to do something about their starts.

"It's really disappointing to go behind 2-0, 3-0 every game," said left winger Taylor Hall. "It forces you to play a perfect game from there on. It's really hard to do that. I thought we played well after we got down, but it's too hard to play like that."

With the Flames having lost nine of their previous 10 games, and having played the night before, most of the fans in Edmonton were hoping, and most of the fans in Calgary were fearing, a lopsided Oilers win.

Instead, the Flames got after Edmonton in the first period and staked themselves a 3-1 lead on goals from left winger Brandon Bollig on their first shot of the game at 1:52 and two from right winger Michael Frolik at 13:15 and 17:27.

Hall replied for Edmonton with his fifth of the season as Edmonton spent the rest of the night chasing the game.

They thought they had closed it to 3-2 seven minutes into the second period on a goal from left winger Benoit Pouliot, but Flames coach Bob Hartley issued a coach's challenge on the basis of goaltender interference and won the ruling.

Defenseman Brandon Davidson scored one that counted, though, a bullet from the point that Flames goalie Karri Ramo never had a chance on and it was 3-2.

Flames defenseman T.J. Brodie scored a power-play goal of his own at 16:30 and the Flames were back in front by two at the second intermission.

It was the first time they've led after two periods this season, and although the Oilers pushed hard in the third, they found a way to close the deal.

"We knew that they have so much speed, they kept coming," said Hartley. "After they scored that power play early in the third period, we knew they would get the momentum, the crowd was behind them, they got the equalizer, but we kept going."

NOTES: Oilers C Connor McDavid and RW Nail Yakupov both brought seven-game point streaks into the game. ... In the first 11 games of the season, three Oilers scored their first NHL goals (McDavid, D Darnell Nurse and D Brandon Davidson). ... G Karro Ramo, who was recalled from Stockton of the American Hockey League on Thursday, got the start for the Flames. ... Oilers veteran D Mark Fayne was a healthy scratch. ... RW Jordan Eberle, who's been out with a shoulder injury since the preseason, is not practicing with the Oilers. ... Everybody on the Flames roster was a minus player through the first 10 games of the season. Celebrated off-season acquisition D Dougie Hamilton was minus-10. ... The Flames have a league worst 4.09 goals-against average. ... Flames RW David Jones needs one more game for 400 in his NHL career.