Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Wrap: Pair of Three-Goal Rallies Lifts Flyers, 6-5, vs. Oilers

December 8, 2016, 10:43 PM ET [464 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Second 3-Goal Rally is Charm as Flyers Beat Oilers, 6-5

The Philadelphia Flyers' winning streak grew to seven games as the team erased a pair of two goal deficts (2-0 in the second period and 5-3 in the third) with a pair of three-goal rallies at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night. Philadelphia skate off with a 6-5 regulation win over the Edmonton Oilers.

The Flyers' 50th Anniversary Goaltenders' Heritage Night was not a great one for goalies. After looking razor sharp in compiling wins in five straight starts, Steve Mason was a bit like a starting pitcher who didn't have his "A game, fighting the puck a bit, but worked out of enough jams to earn the win. He finished with 28 saves on 33 shots. Losing netminder Jonas Gustavsson stopped 25 of 31.

"The guys bailed me out tonight. That is a sign of good things hopefully. When a goalie isn’t making saves we need, but the guys are still by you in front. I am use to seeing that drive to have those nice opportunities set in front of you," Mason said.

"Once we got it to 5-4, I just tried to lock it down as best as I could. There are nights when you are just not feeling as sharp as you would like to. This is a situation where the guys in front never quit. They earned the two points tonight for sure. Coming back in a couple days from a personal standpoint I got to be more sharp.”

The Flyers received monster offensive games from Claude Giroux (two goals, one assist, plus-three) and Jakub Voracek (one goal, three assists, plus-three).

“It was an intense game, a lot of emotion. Felt like a little playoff game but it was the funnest game we played all year, that’s for sure. The fans were unreal tonight. They weren’t 'Wooing", they were cheering. So that was good,"

Giroux's linemate, Michael Raffl, scored the game-winning goal with 1:29 left, taking a chip pass from Voracek, making a sharp cut in from the right circle and elevating a shot over Gustafsson in a very similar-looking goal to one he scored in Nashville on Sunday

“Jakey has been hard on me for [not making] that play for three years now. That is actually the first time that it worked out," Raffl said.

The Flyers' first comeback roll of the game saw the team, trailing 2-0, erupt for three goals in span of one minute, 19 seconds, to turn the deficit into a short-lived 3-2 lead. Mark Streit scored the first goal, shortly after the expiration of a Flyers' power play. Matched up most of the night against the Connor McDavid line, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare provided a well-timed bonus by scoring his first goal of the 2016-17 season to knot the score. Giroux then put the Flyers ahead only for the Oilers to score each of the next three goals.

"We won the game so that’s why it was fun. Win or lose, maybe it would have changed my mind. But it was a heck of a game from our team. I got to play against him. Everyone knows what kind of player he is, what kind of speed he brings to the table. I just tried to be as close as possible to him and kind of be annoying and cut off his speed. I think, like I said, I didn’t make a big fool out of myself so that’s a good point," Bellemare said.

Leon Draisaitl (one goal, two assists), McDavid (power play goal, one assist), Andrej Sekera (shorthanded), Benoit Pouliot and Oscar Klefbom (power play) scored for the Oilers. Edmonton won the special teams battle in this game. The Oilers went 2-for-4 on the power play and killed four of five Flyers power plays while Sekera chipped in the shortie.

The Flyers won 60 percent of the faceoffs in the game, going 36 for 60 on the night. Giroux led the way by going 19-for-24 (79 percent) at the dot.

Despite assisting on Voracek's power play goal that started the third period comeback, Shayne Gostisbehere had a very rough night both without the puck in coverages and with the puck (five charged giveaways, only one of four attempted shots made it on net).

McDavid had a running battle with Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning during the game. They exchanged shoves at one point and chirped at one another. After the game, McDavid claimed Manning started the trash talking by bringing up the play in Edmonton last season where McDavid broke his collarbone crashing hard into the boards after a bump by Manning.

“I did all I could defending him last year in the media. I didn’t want to make a big deal saying he did it on purpose. He wanted to make some comments today about what went on last year and I thought it was one of the classless things I’ve ever seen on the ice. He said some things and our guys responded accordingly. We can put the whole “He did it on purpose” thing to rest, because what he said out there confirmed that. It shows what kind of guy he is, how he doesn’t step up and fight some of our guys," said McDavid.

Manning was unavailable for comment immediately after the game. Contacted shortly thereafter for a response, Manning obliged.

“I think anybody who knows me or who has played with or against me along the road here, knows that I am not that kind of player. I am not out there intentionally trying to hurt people. I’m a guy who plays the game hard and I take pride in that. I think going back to last year, it was a total accident, I mean, there were three players involved and there was never any intention on hurting anyone," Manning said.

The McDavid-Manning battle will no doubt become a focal point when the teams rematch in Edmonton on February 16. On this night, the main storyline was the Flyers' pursuit of extending their winning streak and yet another comeback from a significant deficit; which was a common theme in the season's early weeks but has not been necessary too often of late.

Said Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol, "This win’s a little bit indicative of the type of team we have. A couple nights ago Mason was the best player. He picked up a lot of guys around him and tonight maybe wasn’t his best. But, it was pretty good. The guys battled hard. They picked up some of the slack. That’s what it takes.

"Every guy’s not going to be at their best every night. You’d like them to be, and I know guys want to be at that level. But, when one piece isn’t working, the other part has to pick it up.”

Neither team recorded a shot in the first three-plus minutes of the game. Finally, Mason faced a Jordan Eberle breakaway and stoned him. At 4:39, Edmonton broke in 2-on-1. Puck carrier Leion Draisaitl elected to shoot from the left circle and beat Mason through the five-hole for his 12th goal of the season to make it 1-0. Jesse Puljujärvi earned the lone assist.

Philly remained without a shot for the first seven-plus minutes but went on the game's first power play at 7:23. Puljujärvi went off for hooking. The first unit mssed the net on one attempt and got blocked on a second. Mark Streit's right point shot was the Flyers' lone shot on goal.

Gostisbehere got turnstiled on a rush but no shot resulted. Shots were 3-1 for Edmonton at a TV timeout at the 10:58 mark. Gustavsson robbed Raffl at the doorstep on a feed from Voracek after play resumed. He then made a tough save onBellemare from the left hashmark.

Raffl hit the long side crossbar on a chance from the left slot. At a stoppage at 14:29, pushing and shoving briefly (and rather predictably) broke out between McDavid and Brandon Manning. With 4:24 left in the period, Radko Gudas took McDavid off the puck as he tried to squeeze through along the right side boards.

Simmonds, taking a drop pass from Brayden Schenn off the rush, was stopped by Gustavsson off a rush. Philly went to its second power play at 17:45 as Puljujärvi went back to the box for holding.

In the opening seconds of the power play, Gustavsson picked a low Giroux shot through a Simmonds screen. Voracek fumbled a shot attempt away, allowing an easy clear and later missed the net on a one-timer. Gustavsson deflected a puck out of play and the Flyers changed units with 25 seconds left on Edmonton penalty. Nothing dangerous ensued.

First period shots were 9-5 in the Flyers' favor.

In the opening minute of the second period, Gustavsson gloved a Voracek shot from the right circle. Edmonton had a 3-on-2 rush on the next shift but the puck was tucked wide of the net. Mason stopped a routine perimeter shot for his first save of the period.

Andrew MacDonald went off for a defensive zone slash at 3:48. The Oilers cashed in as Mason never recovered from an initial save and a rebound left in the slot. McDavid took a shovel pass in the right circle and fired the puck home for his 12th goal of the season. Draisaitl and Milan Lucic got the helpers. The second goal came on the Oilers' eighth shot of the game. McDavid chirped Manning after scoring the goal.

Provorov went offside on a promising rush with 11:51 left in the second period. Gustavsson came up with a Gudas center point shot with Simmonds nearby at 9:58. Shot at the regulation midpoint were 13-11 Flyers.

Philadelphia went to the power play for a third time at 10:23. Matt Hendricks went off for holding. Manning nearly scored on the delayed call. Benoit Pouliot put a tricky backhander on net on a shorthanded bid as he went past Gostisbehere. Cousins turned a puck over for a potential 2-on-1 that fizzled out.

The Flyers got on the board after the penalty expired. Working the puck quickly around the offensive zone, Streit received a pass from Travis Konecny and ripped home his fifth goal of the season at to cut the gap to 2-1. Ivan Provorov got the secondary helper.

Quickly thereafter, Bellemare scored his first goal of the season to knot the game at 2-2 at 13:24, ripping home a shot from the right circle. MacDonald and Chris VandeVelde got the assists. Fans were still celebrating the Bellemare goal when the Oilers turned the puck over in their own end. Voracek fed across the ice to an open Giroux, who one-timed home a blast from the left circle to put the Flyers ahead 3-2 at 13:43.

The Flyers soon had another scoring chance and pushing and shoving ensued. Wayne Simmonds drew a roughing penalty -- the only call -- at 14:10. With 40 seconds left on the penalty, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was whistled for slashing, canceling the rest of the Edmonton power play.

Edmonton tied the game at 3-3 at 16:15 on a shorthanded goal in which Sekera ripped home a one timer for his fourth goal of the year. Assists went to Letestu and McDavid.

Mason stopped Drake Caggiula in close on a delayed hooking penalty on Provorov. Edmonton went to the power play again at 19:19. They took 1:20 of carryover time into the third period.

Second period shots were 13-9 for Edmonton (18-18 overall through 40 minutes).

The Flyers killed off the remainder of the penalty without a shot. After the penalty expired, Mason stopped Nugent-Hopkins in tight at 1:31.

Edmonton took a 4-3 lead on a shot from the top of the right hash marks by Pouliot (fifth goal of the season) that eluded Mason at 3:07. The puck may have gone off Gostisbehere. Draisaitl and Adam Larsson got the assists.

At 3:30, Taylor Leier took a slashing the stick penalty as the Oilers went back to the power play. Edmonton made it 5-3 at 5:12. An Oscar Klefbom shot from the right point found the net through traffic for his Jordan Eberge and Caggiula got the assists.

The Flyers went to the power play at 5:42. Kris Russell got the gate for holding. Philly cut the gap to 5-4 as Voracek found the net for his 10th goal of the season on a fluttering shot from above the right circle that deflected off a penalty killer's stick. Gostisbehere and Giroux got the assists on the power play goal at 6:31.

Raffl was unable to finish a golden opportunity to tie the game from the right slot. At the other end, Mason melted down an Edmonton forecheck with a cover at 7:37. The Flyers won the draw and broke out.

With 11:54 left, a quick whistle saved the Oilers a potential tying goal as play was blown dead with Gustavsson flat on his back. Schenn poked the puck in too late.

With 10:18 remaining, Gudas put way too much steam on a pass and took a needless icing. However, Philly won the draw and went other way. Provorov was taken down by McDavid joining the rush with 8:50 left and lost a scoring chance as a result. No penalty call resulted.

However, Giroux brought the Flyers even again at 12:11. After an initial Edmonton turnover, Gudas went around behind the net and centered to Giroux in front, who beat Gustavsson to tie the game at 5-5 on his second goal of the game. Gudas and Voracek got the assists.

With 6:13 left, another quick whistle on an uncovered puck benefited the Oilers. This time, Konency put the puck in after a whistle. With 5:02 left, Mason erased a Provorov giveaway with a blocker save out of play.

Gustavsson stopped a Voracek left circle shot with 3:09 remaining.

Raffl scored a gorgeous go-ahead goal off the rush with 1:29 left, similar to his most recent goal. Voracek and Streit got the assists on Raffl's sixth of the season as the Flyers went ahead 6-5.

Edmonton pulled Gustavsson for an extra attacker. A big stop by Mason, a couple blocks and a late clear of the zone killed the clock off and brought the Flyers a seven-game winning streak.

Third period shots were 15-13 Oilers. Final shots were 33-31 in Edmonton's favor. The Flyers will conduct an optional 11:40 a.m. practice on Friday and then play yet another set of back-to-back weekend games, hosting the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon and then playing a road tilt against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday evening.
Join the Discussion: » 464 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Bill Meltzer
» Flyers Gameday: 3/28/24 @ MTL
» Wrap: Flyers Lose 6-5 OT Game to Rangers
» Flyers Gameday: 3/26/24 @ NYR
» Quick Hits: Flyers-FLA Wrap, Flyers Daily, Phantoms, Bigger than Hockey
» Flyers Gameday: 3/24/2024 vs. FLA; Phantoms Update