GAME STORY: Oilers 4, Flames 1

EDMONTON, AB – If Tuesday night was the dress rehearsal, the Oilers are trending in the right direction for when the curtain goes up on the Stanley Cup Qualifiers this Saturday.

Playing their first game since the fateful March 11 night when North American pro sports came to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Oilers cruised past the provincial rival Calgary Flames 4-1 in their lone exhibition match during Phase 4 of the NHL’s Return To Play schedule.

Video: OILERS TODAY | Post-Game vs CGY 07.29.20

“All in all, you like the win,” Head Coach Dave Tippett said after the game.”But it was a good game for evaluating where we are and some players where they fit and some things we have to work on the next couple days.”

The embroiled enemies squared off for the first time since Edmonton trounced Calgary 8-3 at the Saddledome on Feb. 1, and Tuesday’s game started nearly identical to that memorable night with Kailer Yamamoto starting the scoring shortly after the opening faceoff.

The second-half sensation tallied the first goal of Edmonton’s Hub City tenure just 64 seconds into the game, burying the rebound on a shot from the high slot by Oscar Klefbom, following a crafty drop-pass from Tyler Ennis. Following his call-up from the Bakersfield Condors, Yamamoto scored 26 points in 27 games, picking up right where he left off on Tuesday.

Speaking of picking up where they left off, the Oilers channeled their NHL-best power play to extend the lead to 2-0 at the 7:44 mark of the opening frame as Connor McDavid took a pass on the doorstep from reigning Art Ross Trophy winner Leon Draisaitl and made no mistake. Klefbom picked up his second assist of the period on the 2-0 man-advantage marker.

Tuesday’s game harkened back to the unforgettable Feb. 1 barn-burner again later in the opening frame when frequent Battle of Alberta contributor Zack Kassian levelled Flames defenceman Erik Gustafsson along the boards with a clean hit. The thundering collision knocked Gustafsson’s helmet off and he didn’t return to the Calgary bench, resulting in a penalty.

Video: McDavid scores twice as Oilers down Flames, 4-1

Both teams switched their goalies midway through the second period, with Mike Smith relieving Mikko Koskinen (17 saves) for the Oilers and David Rittich taking over for Cam Talbot (19 saves) between Calgary’s pipes.

The Flames weren’t able to solve Koskinen during his period and a half of action, but Elias Lindholm got Calgary on the board with a power-play goal with just four seconds remaining in the middle frame, coralling a rebound and shooting high on a sprawled Smith.

The Oilers netminder made his best save of the game with 14:41 left on the clock in the third period as Dillon Dube and Sam Bennett burst in on a two-on-one, with the former setting up the latter, only to be denied the out-stretched glove of the veteran puck-stopper.

Smith’s hand-eye heroics paved the way for a two-goal flurry to close out the win for the Oilers in the final five minutes of the frame as Patrick Russell and McDavid each lit the lamp with insurance goals 33 seconds apart.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins flipped the puck into the offensive zone, and a fortuitous bounce ended up right on Russell’s backhand for a quick shot and goal from the Danish power forward with 4:34 remaining.

Video: POST-RAW | Smith, Chiasson 07.28.20

Rusell then quickly picked up an assist as he chipped the puck up to McDavid in the neutral zone and the captain burst down the right wing before scorching a no-look shot through Rittich’s five-hole to round out the scoring.

“We 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 couple more days to do that to be ready to go for Saturday.”

The Oilers will have three more days, to be precise, to prepare for Game 1 of their best-of-five Qualifying Round against the Chicago Blackhawks, facing off at 1pm MT on Saturday, while the Flames will play the Winnipeg Jets in their opening game Saturday night.