Flyers outslug Oilers for seventh straight win
A sedate first-period that had little action turned into the wildest game of the season at the electric Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night.
A sedate first-period that had little action turned into the wildest game of the season at the electric Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night.
Final: Flyers 6, Edmonton 5.
Streak: 7.
Left winger Michael Raffl scored after taking a pass from Jake Voracek and making a power move to get past Oscar Klefbom, giving the Flyers a 6-5 lead with 1 minute, 29 seconds to go.
"Jakey banked it off the wall. He wants me to make that play all the time. He's been hard on me on that," said a smiling Raffl, who scored the game-winner on a similar move in Nashville on Sunday. "I just put a little fake and got around my D-man and chipped it up high."
The Flyers, who overcame a 5-3 deficit in the final period, have won seven in a row for the first time since 2011. They will try to make it eight straight for the first time since 2002 when they host Dallas on Saturday afternoon.
"When we're down, we don't change our game plan," said Claude Giroux after scoring two goals to engineer the comeback. "We just play a little harder."
Added Giroux, who is plus-10 during the seven-game winning streak: "The fans were unreal tonight. They weren't wooing; they were cheering."
It marked the ninth time this season the Flyers had overcome at least a two-goal deficit in a game. They are 5-3-1 in those games.
"We're a confident group right now and good things are happening," Raffl said.
Giroux tied it at 5-all with 7:49 left by swatting a slot shot past backup goalie Jonas Gustavsson. Giroux had taken a feed from defenseman Radko Gudas, who had gone behind Edmonton's net.
About a minute earlier, Ivan Provorov was tackled from behind by Connor McDavid as he sped deep into the Edmonton zone. There was no call, igniting chants from the irate crowd.
Voracek had four points, including three assists.
The Flyers used Steve Mason's 42-save performance to steal a 3-2 overtime win over Florida on Tuesday. On Thursday, it was the Flyers' offense that recused Mason, who had his first off-night in a few weeks.
"The guys bailed me out," Mason said.
"I think this is how you become a great team," Voracek said about the Flyers winning in different manners. "Mase playing the last six games the way he did, and it wasn't his night tonight...but we came back for him tonight. That's how you get in the playoffs and have success in the playoffs."
Earlier in the third, Benoit Pouliot (slot shot) and defenseman Oscar Klefbom (power-play point drive through a screen) scored about two minutes apart to put the Oilers ahead, 5-3. But Voracek countered with a power-play goal of his own, cutting the deficit to 5-4 with 13:29 remaining.
It was that kind of night at the Wells Fargo Center. Defense was only a rumor.
Shortly after McDavid scored on the power play and began jawing with defenseman Brandon Manning, the Flyers erupted for three goals _ Mark Streit, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Giroux found the net _ in a frenetic 72-second span to take a 3-2 second-period lead.
Bellemare's goal was his first this season and first in 30 games.
"The entire weight of the rink is off my shoulders," said Bellemare, who did not allow McDavid any even-strength points. "I've been having chance after chance and the puck didn't bounce my way. This one bounced my way 100 percent."
McDavid missed several months last season when he broke his left clavicle after losing an edge and then colliding with Manning and going into the boards. After Thursday's game, he said Manning implied that he injured him on purpose.
Manning vehemently denied it.
"That's 100 percent wrong," he said. "Anyone who has seen the clip, sees him catch an edge. I would never intentionally hurt someone. For him to say that, it is what it is. When he comes out and says that's the most classless thing...and for him to come out in the second period and yell at our bench for a minute and tell me to get on the ice. Or for him to score a goal and start chirping at me, you should see where his focus is right there."
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