McDavid scores twice, Oilers top Flames in exhibition game in NHL return

Connor McDavid scored two goals, and Leon Draisaitl had an assist for the Edmonton Oilers in a 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames in an exhibition at Rogers Place on Tuesday.

McDavid, who was second in NHL scoring this season behind Draisaitl with 97 points (34 goals, 63 assists) in 64 games, scored 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in nine games before the season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

"Obviously it's different off the start," McDavid said. "It took probably the first period to get used to it. You had two teams that don't like each other very much. It didn't feel too different that way, but [we] got more and more used to it as the game went on."

The Stanley Cup Qualifiers -- eight best-of-5 series and two four team round-robins -- begin Saturday. Each of the 24 participating teams will play one exhibition game, with six in Toronto and six in Edmonton, the Western Conference hub city.

Mikko Koskinen started in goal and saved all 17 shots in 29:41, and Mike Smith made 19 saves in relief for the Oilers, who enter as the No. 5 seed in the West and will play the Chicago Blackhawks, the No. 12 seed. Game 1 is Saturday (3 p.m. ET; NBC, SN).

"Certainly had some things that I liked what we did," Edmonton coach Dave Tippett said. "I liked both our goaltenders; they certainly played well. A couple of power plays were alright. But [we have] some work to do.

"There are some spots that we had to get some of the kinks out. All in all, you like the win, but it was a good win for evaluating where we are and some players where they fit and some things we have to work on the next couple days."

Elias Lindholm scored for the Flames, who are the No. 8 seed in the West and play the Winnipeg Jets, the No. 9 seed, in a qualifier series that starts Saturday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV, CBC, SN). Cam Talbot made 19 saves on 21 shots in 29:40; David Rittich made seven saves in relief.

"I think we need to feel good about what we saw tonight," Calgary coach Geoff Ward said. "The pace was really good, some hitting on both sides. I thought both teams played hard. It looked like a game, and the rivalry got the intensity up a little bit.

"Our guys don't feel bad. We're disappointed we didn't get the win, obviously, and we know there are things we can take out of it. But we feel good about our game and what we were able to do after the slow start."

McDavid gave the Oilers a 2-0 lead on the power play at 7:44 of the first period when he lifted a shot over Flames goalie Cam Talbot after taking a pass from Draisaitl. He scored again at 15:59 of the third to make it 4-1 when he stripped the puck from a Flames defenseman and slid a shot between Rittich's legs.

"We kind of had all the highs and lows of one game, and those are the types of swings you're going to see in the playoffs," McDavid said. "We've done our best to prepare ourselves and we have a couple more days to do that and we're ready to go Saturday."

Kailer Yamamoto scored on a rebound to give Edmonton, which played as the road team in its home arena, a 1-0 lead at 1:04 of the first period.

Lindholm made it 2-1 when he lifted a shot over Smith on the power play at 19:56 of the second.

Patrick Russell scored at 15:26 of the third period, and McDavid scored 33 seconds later at 15:59 for the 4-1 final.

Each team went 1-for-4 on the power play.

"Overall, I think we can take a lot of things from this game," Lindholm said. "A little sloppy off the start, but it was good to get Edmonton right away and get into the battles. We're all going to take a lot form this game, get rested tomorrow, and start looking at Winnipeg the next couple of days here."