EDMONTON — Scott Darling wasn’t sorely tested in his debut in net for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Jordan Staal scored twice and added an assist and Teuvo Teravainen also had two goals as the Hurricanes came away with a 6-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in pre-season play on Monday.
Lucas Wallmark and Janne Kuokkanen also scored for the Hurricanes, who improved to 4-1 in exhibition action.
Darling, the former Chicago Blackhawks backup goalie, made his long-awaited Hurricanes debut in net after being acquired by the Hurricanes in a trade late last April. He only needed to make 19 saves.
"It was nice to get the first game out of the way," said the 28-year-old Darling. "It’s been a while since I had played a 60-minute game, so it was fun to be back in the swing of things and get the first game out of the way with a new team."
Darling, who was nursing some bumps and bruises to start training camp, had an 18-5-5 record with Chicago last season.
"He was good," said Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters. "He made some big saves. He is going to be good for us. We are excited about our goaltending and the moves we made this summer."
Ryan Strome and Kailer Yamamoto replied for the Oilers, who suffered their first pre-season loss to fall to 5-1.
"That was an NHL game tonight and we weren’t really ready for it," said Oilers goalie Cam Talbot, who allowed six goals on 29 shots. "They made us pay a lot on the power play."
Carolina got on the board first with a five-on-three power play goal six-and-a-half minutes into the opening period as the Oilers failed in an attempt to clear the zone and Teravainen picked the top corner on Talbot.
Despite being outshot 12-3 to that point, the Oilers tied the game with two minutes left in the first period as Strome tucked in the rebound from an Oscar Klefbom point shot past Darling.
Carolina regained the lead a minute later on another power play as Teravainen scored his second of the game on a rebound after Talbot made a great stop on the initial shot.
The Hurricanes went up 3-1 with a short-handed goal 11 minutes into the second period as a Talbot giveaway ended up in the back of the net on a goal by Wallmark.
Carolina extended its lead two minutes later on another five-on-three advantage, with Kuokkanen sending a shot off the Oilers goalie and in.
Edmonton got one back late in the middle frame as rookie Yamamoto deflected his fifth goal of the pre-season in on the power play.
Carolina restored its three-goal lead 42 seconds into the third, as Staal beat Talbot on a long shot.
Staal scored his second goal of the game on a rebound seven minutes later.
"There’s only a couple games left here," Strome said. "It’s time to kick it into gear for myself and everyone. It was a good little wake-up call."
The two teams will meet for a rematch on Wednesday, being played on neutral ice in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Notes: Both teams dressed what is expected to be very close to their regular season NHL lineups.
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