EDMONTON — Leon Draisaitl scored 56 seconds into overtime and added an assist as the Edmonton Oilers came from behind to finally record their first victory of the season, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 on Tuesday.
Connor McDavid had a breakaway in the overtime session, but was stopped by Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson, however he was able to pick up the rebound and send it in front to Draisaitl, who notched his second of the season.
Adam Henrique, Connor Brown and Evan Bouchard also scored and McDavid had a pair of assists for the Oilers (1-3-0) who snapped a three-game losing skid to start the season during which they were outscored 15-3.
It had been a surprisingly sorry start for Edmonton, which has high expectations this year after making it all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final last season before losing out to the Florida Panthers.
Matvei Michkov scored his first two NHL goals in just his third career game and Bobby Brink also replied for the Flyers (1-1-1) who have lost two straight.
Stuart Skinner had 27 saves in the Edmonton net, while Ersson made 29 stops in goal for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Flyers: Despite causing some concern by missing Monday’s practice, described as a maintenance day, forward Joel Farabee was in the lineup to keep his Ironman streak intact. Farabee has not missed a game since John Tortorella became the Flyers' head coach and has now dressed in 175 straight games, tying him with Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby for the NHL's longest active Ironman streak.
The last time Farabee missed a game was during an injury-riddled 2021-22 season.
Oilers: Oilers captain Connor McDavid extended his point streak against the Flyers to 11 games, the longest active run in the NHL ahead of Auston Matthews (eight games played) and Jonathan Marchessault (seven).
Ever since being injured in a game against Philadelphia in his 2015-16 rookie campaign, McDavid has positively feasted on the Flyers, coming into the game with 11 goals and 31 points in 14 games. That equated to 2.31 points per game, the most he’s scored against any team by that metric.
KEY MOMENT
Edmonton tied the game 3-3 with 3:42 to play in the third period as Draisaitl made a great backhand pass to McDavid in the slot and he rapidly got it across to Bouchard for the one-timer past Ersson.
KEY STAT
In their 44 seasons, the Oilers have only had an 0-4 launch to the season twice. They were 0-4 and outscored 24-5 in 1995-96 and 0-4 again in McDavid’s rookie season of 2015-16 when they were outscored 13-5 in that span.
UP NEXT
Flyers: Visit the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.
Oilers: Visit the Nashville Predators on Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2024.
Shane Jones, The Canadian Press