The Philadelphia Flyers captured a 2-1 (2-1) shootout decision over the Edmonton Oilers at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday evening. Excellent defensiver structure, tight gaps, active forechecking and a penalty-free game against the NHL's No. 1 power play club keyed the Flyers to being the better team for the decided majority of the game.
With the win, the Flyers pulled themselves back to "hockey .500" on the season, at 22-22-9. They are 2-9 in games decided beyond regulation (1-8 in overtime, 1-1 in shootouts). Edmonton is now 29-18-4 overall.
The Flyers played a strong first period and took a 1-0 lead to intermission on a goal by Kevin Hayes (16th of the season) at 7:50. The second period was basically evenly played, with a slight edge to the Flyers in scoring chances, but the only goal was by Evander Kane (8th) at 1:56. The teams took a 1-1 deadlock into the third period, and then overtime. A disallowed Edmonton goal at 7:24 of the third period, overturned on a coach's challenge for goaltender interference, loomed large.
In the shootout, the Flyers got goals in the second round from Morgan Frost and the third round from James van Riemsdyk. The Oilers had a second-round goal from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins but Connor McDavid in the first round and Leon Draisaitl in the third round were unsuccessful on their attempts.
Carter Hart earned the win in net, holding the NHL's highest-scoring team to one goal on 35 shots through 65 minutes and then went 2-for-3 in the shootout. His immediate response to an iffy goal by Kane -- a stellar save on Kane very shortly after play resumed --- and a clean glove save on McDavid in overtime were among the highlights of the goalie's performance. He also benefited from strong coverage in front of him. Hart didn't face a high volume of dangerous chances but stepped up as needed.
Stuart Skinner played well in a losing cause for the Oilers. He denied 35 of 36 Flyers shots on goal in regulation and overtime. He was 1-for-3 in the shootout.
Travis Sanheim, reunited for the last two games with Rasmus Ristolainen, showed markedly greater assertiveness in jumping up into the play up ice. He finished the night with three shots on goal, a primary assist and three blocked shots in 21:56 of ice. When he was paired with Tony DeAngelo, Sanheim seemed more compelled to try play more cautiously because DeAngelo is ultra-aggressive.
Frost played one of his strongest two-way games of the season. He led the Flyers with five shots on goal including two near-miss scoring chances. He also was credited with two takeaways and went 6-for-9 on faceoffs. Tortorella rewarded the player with a shift in the 3-on-3 overtime and a turn in the shootout.
The Flyers did an excellent job discipline-wise, both in terms of their overall puck management and staying poised when Edmonton had the puck and in terms of rendering Edmonton's lethal power play a non-factor by taking no penalties all night. The Flyers' power play was unable to score on three opportunities.
For a full period-by-period synopsis, analysis, highlights and more, see the
Postgame 5 on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com.
The Flyers have a noon practice scheduled at the FTC in Voorhees on Friday. After that, the team will have back-to-back home matinees on Saturday against the Nashville Predators and Sunday against Dave Hakstol's Seattle Kraken.
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