EDMONTON — The Philadelphia Flyers hope they are finally turning things around.
Wayne Simmonds had a goal and an assist and Claude Giroux added a pair of helpers as the Flyers won their second game in a row, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on Wednesday.
Jordan Weal, Dale Weise and Michael Raffl also scored for the Flyers (10-11-7), who won consecutive games for only the second time this season, coming on the heels of a 10-game losing skid.
"We went through a tough stretch and got a win the other night in Calgary and this one tonight was big to keep us going on the right track," said Flyers goalie Brian Elliott.
Weise said it is nice to be back in the win column.
"It definitely feels good, definitely the way we played too, it's a pretty complete effort from our team," he said. "Getting contributions from everyone, it's going to be huge if we want to keep stringing some wins together.
"I really liked the way we played the last two games."
Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored for the Oilers (11-15-2), who have lost two of their last three.
"We can't seem to start two good games in a row," Draisaitl said. "It is setting us back. We always have to come back in games and it takes a lot of energy to do that. I thought we had some good looks in the third, but couldn't capitalize."
Defenceman Oscar Klefbom said there is still time for the Oilers to turn the corner on what has been a disappointing season so far.
"A lot can happen," he said. "There is a lot of hockey left to play, a lot of games. The road is getting tougher and tougher but we have to keep our head high. We don't have time to be grumpy, that's only going to make it tougher."
Philadelphia outshot the Oilers 13-7 in the scoreless opening period.
Edmonton finally broke the deadlock four minutes into the second period as they broke out on a short-handed two-on-one with Connor McDavid getting a backhand pass through to Draisaitl, who beat Elliott for his eighth of the season.
The Flyers tied it up five minutes later on the power play with a nice three-way passing play converted in front by Weal, who tipped it past Edmonton goalie Laurent Brossoit.
Philadelphia took a 2-1 lead on a soft goal with five minutes left in the second period as Weise sent a shot through both the defender's and Brossoit's legs.
The Flyers added to their lead four minutes into the third period as a turnover at the Philadelphia blue line led to a breakaway for Raffl, who buried his fourth of the season.
Edmonton battled to get back into the game and pulled to within one on a rebound goal by Nugent-Hopkins with 6:40 remaining.
Simmonds put the game away with an empty-netter with 39 seconds left on the clock.
The Flyers are back in action on Thursday, concluding a three-game trip in Vancouver. The Oilers embark on a three-game trip out east, beginning on Saturday in Montreal.
Notes: Oilers defenceman Adam Larsson remained out with an injury for the Oilers... Neither of Edmonton's waiver claims from last week, Brandon Davidson (Montreal) and Nathan Walker (Washington), has yet to play for the team this season… The Flyers recently placed goalie Michal Neuvirth and defenceman Brandon Manning on injured reserve. Neuvirth is expected to be out a week, while Manning is likely to miss 3-4 weeks.
Shane Jones, The Canadian Press
