The Edmonton Oilers rallied in the third period to register a 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday night at Rogers Place.
The Flyers’ Noah Cates opened the scoring halfway through the first, powering a wraparound under Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner.
Despite having a quiet first period, the Oilers escaped in a 1-1 tie thanks to a power-play goal by defenceman Tyson Barrie with 2.9 ticks on the clock.
“On a night where maybe everyone’s body didn’t feel the way they wanted it to feel, and things weren’t as clean as maybe they normally are for us, we found a way on a muddy track to get the job done,” Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said. “It’s a credit to our players.”
In the second, Flyers forward Kevin Hayes threw the puck in front and Owen Tippett knifed it past Skinner. Connor McDavid had the Oilers’ best chance on an exciting shorthanded rush, but his wrist shot rang off the post.
“We didn’t really have our stuff. We were pretty flat,” McDavid said after the game. “Only 10 shots through 40 minutes — that’s not good enough. But I thought we did have a great response.”
Six minutes into the third, Philadelphia’s Olle Lycksell was flagged for a four-minute high-sticking penalty on Oilers forward Devin Shore.
Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl scored on the power play for his 700th career point.
The assists were also milestones for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (70th point of the season, a new career high) and McDavid (800th career point).
“It’s so much fun sharing the ice with these two,” Draisaitl said. “I feel very fortunate and honoured that I get to play with those two for a long time.”
“It’s a great accomplishment for Leo, and Nuge is having a great year,” McDavid said. “He just keeps on going and makes great plays.”
The Flyers nearly regained the lead a few minutes later, but Skinner shot out the right pad to deny Tippett.
“I was thinking ‘I’d better save this because after the first 40 minutes, it was obviously tough, so being able to make that save — hopefully that put some more trust in the guys that I’m ready to go,” Skinner said.
“Stuey’s done that all year for us,” Draisaitl said. “It lifted our bench up big time and helped us get two big points.”
“He made the key save at the key moment for us,” Woodcroft said of Skinner.
With 7:21 on the clock, McDavid’s pass banked in off Travis Sanheim for his 43rd goal of the season.
The Flyers went on the power play with 2:48 left when Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard shot the puck over the glass. However, McDavid dashed Philadelphia’s hopes just 23 seconds later with an empty-netter.
The Oilers had 17 shots on goal in the third after having just 10 in the first two periods.
Skinner finished with 22 saves. Draisaitl and McDavid both had three points.
The Oilers (31-19-8) will visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday (630 CHED, Faceoff Show at 3:30 p.m., game at 5 p.m.).
–With files from Brenden Escott, 630 CHED