Oilers 5, Flames 2
CALGARY, Alberta -- Connor McDavid put on his first big show with two goals and an assist to lead the Edmonton Oilers to their first win of the season on Saturday night with a 5-2 victory over the struggling Calgary Flames.
McDavid, the much-hyped first overall pick in the 2015 draft, scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period, set up the Oilers' fourth goal in the third period and chipped in a nice feed from Taylor Hall for the fifth goal with 3:28 left in the game.
Hall also had a three-point night with a goal and two assists.
The Oilers' three other recent first overall NHL picks -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Hall and Nail Yakupov -- also scored.
The win was Todd McLellan's first win as Oilers head coach after he endured losses in the first four games.
David Jones scored both goals for the Flames, who are winless in three games at home to start the season and 1-4-0 overall.
Hall jammed the puck in the Calgary goal to give Edmonton a 3-1 lead 25 seconds into the third period and McDavid fed Yakupov from behind the net at 2:59. Jones scored on a wrist shot midway through the third period.
Nugent-Hopkins opened the scoring at 12:15 of the first period on a long rebound. Flames goaltender Jonas Hiller made an initial save on defenseman Eric Gryba's shot from the point but couldn't get back into position in time to face Nugent-Hopkins' snapshot.
Jones tied the score on a lucky bounce at 5:07 of the second. The right winger was skating through the slot when defenseman Dennis Wideman's shot from point hit one of his shin pads and bounced between Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot's legs and into the net.
McDavid beat Hiller through the pads with a wrist shot through a screen supplied by Flames defenseman Kris Russell while McDavid was in full flight down the right side at 16:31 of the second.
NOTES" The Flames were without D T.J. Brodie (broken bone in hand), C Joe Colborne (broken thumb), D Ladislav Smid (herniated disc in neck) and C Lance Bouma (broken fibula). ... The Flames stuck with the same lineup they used in Friday's 3-1 road loss to the Winnipeg Jets, meaning their scratches were G Joni Ortio and C Markus Granlund, who was recalled from Stockton of the American Hockey League on Oct. 14. ... Oilers RW Jordan Eberle missed his fifth straight regular-season game because of a shoulder injury he suffered in a Sept. 28 preseason contest in Arizona. Eberle leads all current Oilers in career points against the Calgary with 23 (10 goals, 13 assists) in 26 games. ... The Oilers' lone lineup change from Thursday's 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues was substituting Rob Klinkhammer for Anton Slepyshev at left wing. Saturday's other scratches were D Andrew Ference and D Brandon Davidson.