 in his third win of the season. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Ethan Bear and former Flyer Brandon Manning each scored their first goal of 2019-20. Jakub Voracek scored twice for Philadelphia (2-2-1) and assisted on Oskar Lindblom's goal. It was a tough night for Flyers goalie Carter Hart, who allowed four goals on 14 shots. He was pulled in the second period after Nugent-Hopkins' power-play goal and replaced by Brian Elliott. The loss extended Philadelphia's skid to three games and marked the end of a road trip that included three games in five days. Edmonton got off to a quick start as Draisaitl scored his fifth of the season 1:13 in, beating Hart with a hard snap shot over the blocker. The Flyers tied it with the man advantage when Voracek buried the puck off a big rebound from Claude Giroux's shot. But the Oilers responded just more than seven minutes later as Bear jumped into the rush and took a feed from James Neal, beating Hart with a wrist shot to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead. The Flyers pressed hard for an equalizer in the second period, but Koskinen came up with a plethora of big saves. His two biggest stops came on Sean Couturier's one-timer from the slot and a stick save against a wide-open Shayne Gostisbehere in front. The goalie's strong play sparked the Oilers in the second. After being dominated during the first half of the period, Edmonton broke loose with three goals in less than four minutes to take complete control. McDavid outmuscled Flyers defenseman Justin Braun to make it 3-1 at the 12:34 mark, then Nugent-Hopkins and Draisaitl scored power-play goals 1:54 apart to give Edmonton a 5-1 cushion late in the period. McDavid added his fifth point of the game in the third with a nice drop pass to Manning, who fired a one-timer past Elliott. Lindblom tipped in a drive from Voracek for his third goal of the season with 4:40 remaining. Voracek added his second power-play goal of the game with 2:18 to go. Edmonton's special teams have been a big key to its strong start. The Oilers were 2 for 2 with the man advantage and are 10 for 22 in seven games. NOTES: The Oilers paid tribute to former coach Ted Green, who died last week at 79. ... McDavid's previous five-point games came against Toronto in February 2016 and Tampa Bay in February 2018. ... Manning dressed for the first time this season after being a healthy scratch for the first six games. ... Oscar Klefbom's assist on McDavid's second-period goal was the 100th of his NHL career. UP NEXTFlyers: Host the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. Oilers: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night.---More NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Time: 9:30 PM EDT Venue: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Canada / Winning games despite falling behind is a positive trait. Hockey history is filled with teams that have the confidence they can come from behind for victories. The Edmonton Oilers were perfect examples of that in recent weeks, setting an NHL record by netting five straight come-from-behind victories to start the season. As the Oilers head into a Wednesday home clash against the road-weary Philadelphia Flyers, it's with the reminder teams eventually pay the price when always playing from behind. The Oilers were given that lesson in their last outing, a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday that ended Edmonton's four-game road swing." It's tough to win games when you give them the first goal all the time," Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom told NHL.com. "We knew it was a matter of time. We have to be ready when the puck drops, and it's something we've got to improve." It's still early. We all were very happy with 5-0, but it's not good enough to give up the first goal all the time. We've got to find a way to be ready right off the bat." Despite the loss at Chicago, the Oilers emerged with three wins on their four-game road trip. Now they have a quick two-game homestand, with the Flyers game followed by a visit from the Detroit Red Wings on Friday." We can't dwell on this, we know we need to be better," Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse told Postmedia. "If you're going home after a 3-1 road trip, you have to be happy with it. You have to take the positives. There are things we need to work on, but we move on to the next game. The mistakes we made, we did to ourselves, and we know we can clean those up." The Flyers have plenty to clean up right now, even if they're about to finish a busy, travel-heavy start to the season. Philadelphia arrives in Edmonton after a 3-1 road loss to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. The Flyers have dropped two straight contests in which they scored only three total goals. The Flyers lost in a shootout in Vancouver on Saturday to kick off a three-game Western Canada trip after opening the season with wins over Chicago (in Prague) and at home over the New Jersey Devils. While fatigue may be a factor, there wasn't much positive in the Calgary loss. The Flyers surrendered a goal in the first two minutes, generated a few chances when it was a close game, but then were outplayed in the second and third periods." Definitely did not play the way we wanted to, and we're going to have an opportunity to jump back (Wednesday) and do a better job," Philadelphia coach Alain Vigneault said. "We didn't execute. You have to make plays in this game. You have to make plays that are in front of you. We didn't do that." Flyers defenseman Matt Niskanen said, "We don't have to chew on this one very long. That's good. That's the good thing about back-to-backs. Nobody likes them, but if you lose that first one, you get to go after it again the next night. You don't have to think about it too long." After Flyers goalie Brian Elliott faced the Flames (and stopped 35 of the 37 shots he faced), Carter Hart likely will between the pipes in Edmonton. Hart started Philadelphia's first three games of the season, going 2-0-1 with a 1.62 goals-against average.--Field Level Media
Looking for More Picks?
You can browse all the individual handicapper picks below.
Philadelphia Flyers
Edmonton Oilers
Pick Center
NHL
FINAL (10/16/2019)
TomBartonSports
