Flyers 4, Oilers 3 (SO)
EDMONTON -- With the Philadelphia Flyers 0-3-2 in their previous five road games and the Edmonton Oilers 1-4-1 when playing the second of back-to-back games, it's probably no surprise their neither side was able to grab this one by the throat.
Between the giveaways, the bad penalties, the soft goals, the inept penalty killing and the blown leads, it seemed like it was simply a question of who would give it away last.
It turned out to be the Oilers, who lost a sloppy 4-3 shootout decision at Rexall Place thanks to Flyers left winger Michael Raffl's winner.
Up until the shootout, it was like a game of ping-pong, with the two teams handing the game back and forth like a hot potato.
The only thing missing on the first two Edmonton goals were gift wrapping. Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn sent a gentle pass to Oilers left winger Taylor Hall in the Philadelphia slot 32 seconds after the opening faceoff and it was 1-0 Edmonton.
At 4:02, Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins undressed Flyers defenseman Mark Streit and sent a long wrist shot at goaltender Steve Mason, who whiffed on it to give the Oilers two goals on four shots.
The Oilers disappeared after that, though.
The Flyers held them to just seven shots over the next 36 minutes -- six of those minutes on the power play -- while cutting away at the Oilers lead until it was gone.
The Flyers outshot Edmonton 14-3 in the second period and squared the game on back-to-back power play goals from right winger Wayne Simmonds at 3:37 and 12:13.
Philadelphia handed Edmonton a 3-2 lead in the third period when defenceman Kimmo Timmonen took a ridiculous penalty for tackling Oilers left winger Jesse Joensuu in the corner, leading to the go-ahead goal from right winger David Perron at 11:52.
Within moments, the Oilers handed it back, taking two penalties in 36 seconds, allowing Philadelphia left winger Scott Hartnell to tie it on the ensuing 5-on-3 power play.
NOTES: The Flyers were 4-10-1 when they met the Oilers on Nov. 9. They won that game 4-2 and went 12-6-3 in their next 21. ... Saturday marked the first game of a 12-day, six-city road trip for Philadelphia. After Edmonton, the Flyers visit Vancouver, Calgary, Colorado, Phoenix and New Jersey. ... Flyers RW Steve Downie, who missed two games with an upper-body injury, returned Saturday. ... Oilers C Sam Gagner finally shed the protective face shield he's been forced to wear since breaking his jaw in the pre-season. ... Oilers G Ilya Bryzgalov will earn $1.6 million a year for the next 14 years as part of his buy-out arrangement with the Flyers. In essence, he was being paid by both teams in Saturday night's game. ... Oilers RW Nail Yakupov owns the worst plus-minus in the entire NHL at -25. ... Edmonton LW Ryan Jones is still out with a concussion after colliding with a teammate in practice. ... Flyers C Claude Giroux extended his consecutive-game point streak to eight with his second period assist.
