The Philadelphia Flyers won a shootout for the first time season – in only their second attempt – as they took down the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1.
Carter Hart was fantastic once again as he stopped 2 shots – Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl – in the shootout and 34 shots in regulation and overtime. Stuart Skinner kept the Flyers at bay for most of the game with 35 saves of his own, but couldn’t stop Morgan Frost or James van RIemsdyk in the shootout. Kevin Hayes opened the scoring in the first period when his shot from the faceoff dot fluttered past Skinner for his 16th of the season, but that was countered by Evander Kane early in the second period where his shot barely got past the glove of Hart for his 8th in 20 games.
The Oilers seemingly took a 2-1 lead mid-way through the third period but Zach Hyman’s goal was waived off because it was ruled that there was goaltender interference on the play. It was a tight game and both teams had their chances to take home the 2 points, but credit to the Flyers who didn’t let the Oilers dictate the game and forced them to play at their own pace – even with players like McDavid and Draisatil.
On the heels of a very disappointing loss to the New York Islanders, the Philadelphia Flyers welcomed the high-octane offense of the Edmonton Oilers, headed by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The Flyers tweaked their lines a little – reflecting the in game changes that John Tortorella made on Monday – with Kevin Hayes, Scott Laughton, and Owen Tippett starting the game, followed by James van RIemsdyk, Noah Cates, and Travis Konecny, then Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, and Wade Allison, and Nicolas Deslauriers, Patrick Brown, and Kieffer Bellows on the fourth. Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen formed the second pairing and Tony DeAngelo found himself with Nick Seeler on the third pair, looking for their first home win in 5 attempts.
As for the Oilers, Connor McDavid entered the night with a 13-game point streak and a 15-game road point streak, was tops in the NHL with 41 goals and 93 points, and his running mate in Leon Draisaitl was right behind him with 47 assists and 76 points. After a somewhat bumpy ride to start the season, the Oilers had won 8 of their last 10, were on a 2-game winning streak, finishing up their 4-game road trip tonight, and were finally getting secondary scoring to help their budding superstars. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins entered the night with 23 goals and 62 points and Zach Hyman with 26 goals and 60 points. Stuart Skinner had taken the reins in goal from their marquee free agent signing, Jack Campbell, and was set to face off against Carter Hart for his first career start against the Flyers.
FIRST PERIOD
The Flyers had the early jump to start the game with 4 of the first 5 shots on goal and several other chances that missed the net. Noah Cates had a deflection in front of the goaltender that was stopped, Travis Konecny had a shot in the slot that zipped high and wide, James van Riemsdyk had a dangerous opportunity on the same shift, and it was all culminated by a Tony DeAngelo wrist shot that rang off the post.
A few moments later, after a making a great defensive play on Draisaitl, Kevin Hayes opened the scoring with a shot from the faceoff dot that beat Stuart Skinner for his 16th of the season at the 7:50 mark of the first period. Hayes broke up a pass from Draisaitl in the defensive zone, which led to Travis Sanheim jettisoning the other way, and as he entered the offensive zone he dropped it to Hayes whose shot looked to have deflected off the stick of Tyson Barrie and into the net.
Tortorella was looking for Sanheim to regain his offensive potential and he did not disappoint in the first 20 minutes with a very noticeable and strong showing, evidenced by the primary assist.
With 8:57 remaining in the first period, after another strong offensive zone shift, Vincent Desharnais was called for a tripping minor, sending the Flyers on their first power play of the game. The 30th-ranked man advantage could not set up, were being hounded every time a pass was completed, and fired one shot towards the net with the penalty expiring. Entering tonight, the Oilers had killed 25 of their last 27 penalties, while the Flyers were 0 for their last 10 games in a span of 4 games.
The first period ended with the Flyers up 1-0, holding a 10-7 shot advantage, kept McDavid and Draisaitl at bay for at least the first 20 minutes, and came out with the gumption and jump that their head coach was looking for.
SECOND PERIOD
The Oilers opened the scoring in the second period at the 1:56 mark after Evander Kane ripped a snap shot off the glove of Carter Hart and in the net. The Oilers were humming in the Flyers end to start the period and somehow the Flyers survived and found themselves in the offensive zone on a broken play. They lost the puck and Travis Sanheim was caught after aggressively pinching to keep the play alive. Connor McDavid dropped the pass to Kane as he walked into the zone and as the Flyers sagged back, it allowed Kane to get a good shot from a dangerous part of the ice that Hart couldn’t unfortunately get full control of. Off the next faceoff, McDavid zoomed into the zone and set up Kane with a one-timer that Hart was able to make a big save on to keep the score tied and keep the Oilers momentum at bay.
At the 3:04 mark of the period, Zach Hyman was called for a high-sticking minor, sending the Flyers on their second power play of the night. Rinse and repeat on their second man advantage as they were unable to set up, create chances, or even look dangerous with the extra skater. The highlight of the power play for the Flyers was a bone-crunching body check from DeAngelo after Scott Laughton’s pass missed the defender and exited the zone. The Oilers created the most dangerous chance – once again Evander Kane – as the rugged forward almost beat Carter Hart on a wraparound attempt.
Things opened up a lot more in the second period with end to end hockey from both sides. Hyman, McDavid, and Kane were the most noticeable Oilers with Hyman having a breakaway chance that was stopped, then he had an abbreviated breakaway where he couldn’t jam home the loose puck, McDavid had a few chances but none more dangerous or crafty as his faceoff push towards the net where he made a move but had his shot stopped by the shoulder, and Kane had 3-4 real good chances all throughout with one of them finding the back of the net. As for the Flyers, Noah Cates was around the Oilers crease all game but could never seem to be able to pull the trigger on a shot, Sanheim was noticeable all throughout as well and had his one-timer in the slot gloved down by Skinner, and Ivan Provorov jumped on a loose puck in the slot that he whistled wide of the net.
After two periods of play, the Flyers held a 19-18 shot advantage, might have had the edge between the two teams with their forechecking, forcing turnovers, and scoring chances, however they were unable to finish on several grade-A chances as both teams entered the second intermission tied.
THIRD PERIOD
2:33 into the third and final period of regulation, the Flyers received their third power play of the game after Derek Ryan was called for a high-sticking minor on Nick Seeler. With another chance at taking the lead in a game where the Oilers have played at the pace of their opposition – instead of staking their claim – the power play has gone powerless with a rinse-and-repeat effort. A minute after the expiration of the man advantage, Scott Laughton set up James van Riemsdyk from behind the net to the blue paint but Stuart Skinner gloved down his excellent scoring opportunity to keep the game tied.
At the 7:34 mark of the third period, Zach Hyman finished off a rebound chance that was created by Warren Foegele but the Flyers challenged the play for a goaltender interference call. It was a broken play of sorts as Laughton was holding down the fort on Hyman as the Oilers raced into the zone. The Flyers were also in the midst of a line change and no one caught up with Leon Draisaitl going for the loose puck in the corner. The talented German passed it to Foegele going hard to the net and as his shot was stopped, he made contact with Hart that pushed him away from the crease, which allowed Hyman to finish off the rebound for his 27th of the season. Fortunately for the Flyers, they won the challenge even though it initially seemed that Tortorella was miffed to initiate the challenge, but it was something he had to do in a tied game in the third period.
The latter half of the third period belonged to Edmonton, coincidentally right after the disallowed goal. They were all over the Flyers, peppering Carter Hart with shot after shot – luckily the shot blocking was still on display – and there were several chances that were only inches away from crossing the goal line including another wraparound attempt by Kane that almost bounced off a defender and in but Provorov cleared the porch with only a couple minutes left on the clock.
The best chance for the Flyers came in the dying seconds when Stuart Skinner got a piece of the puck off his blocker as he sprawled to make a save on Noah Cates in the slot. Heading into overtime, the Flyers held a 33-30 shot advantage.
OVERTIME
Oilers were 2-3 in 3-on-3 competition, versus the Flyers who were 1-8. With the Oilers starting McDavid, Draisaitl, and Darnell Nurse, the Flyers countered that with Laughton, Ristolainen, and Sanheim. Morgan Frost had a net-front chance that was stopped as he tried jamming it through the five-hole, he then won a battle for the loose puck but tried an ill-advised spin pass instead of going towards the net again.
McDavid then had a one-on-one battle with DeAngelo where the latter kept the former at bay before McDavid’s speed created another chance, but this time Hart gloved it down with some emphasis. Provorov found himself on an abbreviated breakaway on the next shift but he was off balance as he took his shot that was padded aside by Skinner.
With 5 seconds left, McDavid had the final scoring chance before the shootout where he got past Provorov and almost one-handed the puck through the five-hole of Hart, who stood his ground. If there was a few seconds left on the clock, Ristolainen could’ve ended the game as he found himself on a breakaway but the clock ran out as he got past the neutral zone.
SHOOTOUT
Round 1
Travis Konecny – miss
Connor McDavid – miss
Round 2
Morgan Frost – goal
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – goal
Round 3
James van Riemsdyk – goal
Leon Draisaitl – miss
Carter Hart made 2 saves in the shootout and 34 in the game as the Flyers won their first game in 5 attempts on home ice and beat the Oilers on home ice for the first time since 2019. Stuart Skinner made 1 save in the shootout and 35 in the game as the goaltending duel went in favour of Philadelphia.
UP NEXT
The Flyers continue their homestand on Saturday night as they host the Nashville Predators in the first leg of a back-to-back set.
