Wrap: Flyers fail to close out Oilers, Lose 4-2
The Philadelphia Flyers were unable to protect a third-period lead and went down to a 4-2 defeat to the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Wednesday evening. Special teams were the Flyers' undoing. Connor McDavid had a three-point outburst in the final stanza as Edmonton turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 win. The Flyers finished their western road trip with a 1-3-0 record.
Playing for the third time in four nights and without the services of the injured Travis Konecny, the Flyers put forth a valiant effort for two-plus periods. It was not enough.
A Noah Cates wraparound goal (9th of the season) gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 10:01 of the first period. Philly dominated approximately 15 minutes of the period. Unfortunately, a Joel Farabee faceoff penalty in the final six seconds of the opening stanza immediately turned into a Tyson Barrie power play goal (10th) off the faceoff.
In the second period, the Flyers took a 2-1 edge at 11:37 after Olle Lycksell created a turnover and Owen Tippett (16th goal of the season) re-directed a Kevin Hayes feed into the net. The Flyers had nervous moments on a Connor McDavid power play scoring chance and then a shorthanded opportunity for the NHL's leading scorer but survived to take their one-goal lead into the third period.
The Flyers were on their heels to start the third period and the Oilers' special teams made the difference. On a four-minute penalty to Lycksell, Leon Draisaitl (34th) tied the game on a power play goal. A lucky bounce on an attempted McDavid pass that went into the net at 12:39 proved to be the game-winner for Edmonton on McDavid's 43rd goal of the season. McDavid subsequently added a 4-on-6 shorthanded empty net goal (44th) at 17:35 to ice the win after Darnell Nurse blocked an attempted shot by Morgan Frost in the Edmonton end.
Carter Hart played well in a losing cause, stopping 23 of 26 shots. Stuart Skinner earned the win with 23 saves on 25 shots. A third period save on Tippett proved crucial for the Oilers.
The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play. The Oilers were 2-for-4. Overall, the Flyers were minus-three for the night on special teams.