McDavid has goal and 2 assists, Oilers beat Flames 7-3

Mar 18, 2021, 06:08 am

CALGARY, Alberta -- — NHL scoring leader Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Calgary Flames 7-3 on Wednesday night to split the two-game series.

McDavid has 18 goals and leads the NHL with 38 assists and 56 points.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jesse Puljujarvi, Dominik Kahun, Darnell Nurse, Zack Kassian and Alex Chiasson also scored to help the Oilers rebound from a 4-3 loss Monday night in the series opener.

Tyson Barrie had a career-high four assists, and Leon Draisaitl had three for the Oilers. Mike Smith made 30 saves.

“It’s pretty incredible the skill we have on this team,” Barrie said. “It’s world-class, as good as it gets.”

Elias Lindholm, Mikael Backlund and Johnny Gaudreau scored for Calgary in the Flames' first loss since Darryl Sutter returned as coach. Sutter directed the Flames to three straight victories after taking over for the fired Geoff Ward.

Jacob Markstrom gave up the seven goals on 30 shots.

Sutter said he never considered pulling his starter for David Rittich.

“Not for one shift, second, minute, anything,” Sutter said. “Every team I’ve ever coached, I do not pull the goalie. ... I believe they fight their way out of it just like everybody else. It’s basically a trust thing because I think he’s an awesome goalie. But he has to be able to battle too.”

Edmonton ranks third in the North Division, and leads the season series against Calgary 4-2 with four games remaining. The Flame s trail Montreal by three points for the division's fourth and final playoff spot.

Calgary trailed in a game for the first time under Sutter. The Oilers scored three consecutive goals before the Flames responded. Edmonton then scored four in a span of just under seven minutes to start the third period.

Calgary hadn’t allowed a power-play goal in five straight games, but gave up three Wednesday.

“It’s 3-1 going into the third and we feel like we have a chance,” Flames captain Mark Giordano said. “We take two penalties and they score on both and it’s 5-1. They’re sitting back and waiting for us to get through them. You can’t play open against a team like that, that has that much skill.”

UP NEXT

Oilers: At Winnipeg on Thursday and Saturday nights.

Flames: At Toronto on Friday and Saturday nights.