Flyers rally past Oilers
PHILADELPHIA -- Michael Raffl finished off a furious Flyers comeback by scoring the game-winning goal with 1:29 remaining to give Philadelphia a wild 6-5 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers (16-10-3) trailed 5-3 with less than 15 minutes to play.
Raffl cruised down the right wing, held off a check by defenseman Oscar Klefbom and roofed a shot over Oilers goaltender Jonas Gustavsson, giving the Flyers their first seven-game winning streak since 2011.
Claude Giroux had two goals and one assist, and Mark Streit, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Jakub Voracek also scored for Philadelphia.
Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists, and Connor McDavid and Andrej Sekera added one goal and one assist apiece for the Oilers (14-11-4). Benoit Pouliot and Klefbom also scored for Edmonton, which blew a lead for the fourth consecutive game.
Flyers goalie Steve Mason stopped 28 shots to earn his sixth straight win. Gustavsson stopped 25 to take the loss and fall to 1-2-1.
The Oilers built two-goal leads in the second and third periods, but each time the Flyers rallied back to tie.
Third-period goals by Pouliot and Klefbom gave the Oilers a 5-3 lead 5:12 into the third period, but the Flyers answered with goals from Voracek at 6:31 and Giroux at 12:11.
McDavid's only other NHL game in Philadelphia came last season when Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning rode him into the boards, fracturing his collarbone and forcing him to miss 37 games. Apparently, neither forgot the incident because they jabbed each other throughout the first period, both with their sticks and gloved fists.
The Oilers set the tone early when Jordan Eberle broke free on a clean breakaway on the opening shift. Mason turned away the shot, but could not stop Draisaitl's snap shot from the left circle at the 4:39 mark. The goal was Draisaitl's 12th of the season and fifth in five games.
McDavid made it 2-0 early in the second period, drilling his first power-play goal of the season past Mason at the 4:35 mark. McDavid's goal was his 12th of the season and he had a few words for Manning after celebrating with his teammates.
The Flyers used a dominant stretch midway through the second period to score three goals in 72 seconds and take a 3-2 lead. Shortly after veteran forward Matt Hendricks was released from the penalty box after serving a holding penalty, Streit's blast from the point beat Gustavsson for his fifth goal of the season.
Bellemare, whose primary role was to slow McDavid, tied the score 53 seconds later with his first goal of the season. With the crowd roaring, Giroux gave the Flyers the lead five seconds later, taking a pass from Voracek and hammering a one-timer past Gustavsson, who allowed goals on three consecutive shots.
McDavid wasn't though yet. With the Flyers on the power play, the Oilers' captain fought through checks from Bellemare and Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald to help set up a one-timer by Sekera.
NOTES: Edmonton rookie D Dillon Simpson, the son of former Oilers forward Craig Simpson, made his NHL debut in place of D Mark Fayne, who sat out with a groin injury. ... Flyers D Radko Gudas returned to the lineup after missing the previous three games with the flu. He replaced Michael Del Zotto. ... The Oilers conclude their four-game road trip Friday night in Minnesota, then return to Edmonton for games against Winnipeg, Columbus and Tampa Bay. ... Philadelphia closes out its three-game homestand Saturday afternoon against the Dallas Stars, then hits the road for games in Detroit, Colorado and Dallas.