5 Takeaways: Flyers Stun McDavid and Oilers, 2-1, in Shootout

There was juice inside the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night.

Connor McDavid was the reason.

Every time the Edmonton Oilers superstar was on the ice against the Philadelphia Flyers, you could hear a buzz go through the crowd.

The Flyers did a very good job on McDavid, limiting him to five shots — just three in regulation — and one assist.

And he was stopped in the shootout as the Flyers upset the Oilers, 2-1, behind Carter Hart’s goaltending and James van Riemsdyk’s winning goal.

Hart made 34 saves as he beat his hometown team.

“He’s been like that all year,” left winger Kevin Hayes said. “He’s been the backbone of this team. … It just allows us to know that if there’s a breakdown, he’s back there.”

Morgan Frost, who had a strong game, also scored in the shootout.

The Flyers had been 1-9 in games that went past regulation.

Edmonton is 8-0-2 in its last 10 games.

With 1:30 left in overtime, Hart made a slick glove save to take a goal away from McDavid, who was racing down the ice and in the left circle. He also denied him from in close with 5.1 seconds to go.

The Oilers took an apparent 2-1 lead with 12:36 left in regulation. But the Flyers successfully challenged that Warren Foegele interfered with Hart, so the game remained deadlocked.

That challenged proved to be decisive.

Flyers coach John Tortorella was asked if he felt confident when he made the challenge.

“I’m never confident with that because it’s a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re going to get,” he said.

Here are five quick observations:

1. Staying out of the penalty box keys win, because Flyers’ power play was %#$#&!.

In other words, the PP was awful.

Three power plays. No rhythm. Two total shots — or the same amount Edmonton had while shorthanded.

The power play is 0 for 13 over the last five games.

On a positive note, the Philadelphia Flyers found a way to stop Edmonton’s best-in-the NHL power play (31.8% success rate). They did not commit a penalty.

Staying out of the box was the game plan.

“It was something we discussed this morning and then before the game,” defenseman Travis Sanheim said. “They’re the No. 1 power play in the league and that first unit seems to score a lot of goals; you can’t give them any looks.”

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— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) February 10, 2023

2. Kevin Hayes keyed the game’s first goal with his defense.

It’s no secret that Tortorella hasn’t been enthralled with Hayes’ defense during portions of this season. That’s one of the reasons he moved him from center to left wing, where he has less defensive responsibilities.

But a backchecking Hayes broke up a three-on-two Edmonton rush in the first period, then was the recipient of a Travis Sanheim pass that put him in good scoring position. Hayes beat goalie Stuart Skinner to the short side, putting a right-circle shot into the net with 12:10 left in the first.

“I’m just trying to get back to my game and skating more,” Sanheim said after setting up the goal. “I’ve got to get skating more and making plays.”

As for Hayes, it was the All-Star forward’s 16th goal, and it gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead.

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— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) February 10, 2023

3. The Flyers kept Connor McDavid mostly in check.

In the first period, Flyers centers Noah Cates, Morgan Frost and Scott Laughton did a commendable job on McDavid, who had two shots in the session but didn’t have a lot of time and space.

“You let him get speed, he’s pretty hard to defend,” Sanheim said. “It takes five guys” to defend against him.

McDavid made his presence felt early in the second, skating freely into the zone and dropping a pass to Evander Kane in the left circle. The defense followed McDavid, and Kane whipped a shot that deflected off Hart and into the net.

That knotted the score at 1-all with 18:04 remaining in the second.

McDavid increased his point streak to 14 games; he also has points in 16 straight road games.

Overall, however, the Flyers contained McDavid, who played primarily against the van Riemsdyk-Cates-Travis Konecny line.

“It was definitely a team approach,” van Riemsdyk said. “We played disciplined when we were out there against him. He’s obviously pretty dynamic and electrifying out there, so he’s going to get some chances. But we just wanted to make sure we didn’t give him anything easy, as far as making any risky plays with the puck when he was on the ice.”

4. Center Morgan Frost had some creative moments.

The more you watch Frost, the more you like how he creates room for himself with his clever stickhandling. He made several creative offensive plays Thursday and had six shot attempts (five on goal) but couldn’t finish. Still, his game is growing.

5. The Flyers used their physicality to limit the Oilers’ chances.

Philly was physical and limited Edmonton’s space until the final stages of regulation. The Flyers also had a good forecheck and slowed down the pace — a good idea against the high-flying Oilers.

Heading into the third period, the game was tied at 1-1, and the Flyers had outhit the Oilers, 18-9. Wade Allison and Nick Deslauriers each had four of the hits.

Skinner robbed Sanheim with a glove save of his point-blank shot, keeping the game tied at 1-1 with 1:42 left in the second. Owen Tippett  set up the chance with a deft pass.

The Flyers finished with a 23-13 hits advantage.

Breakaways

The Flyers are now 55-97 in career shootouts. … Cates was robbed by Skinner in the waning seconds of regulation, which ended with the Flyers having a 33-30 shots edge. The Flyers finished with a 36-35 shots advantage. … Konecny (eight shot attempts) is goal-less in his last 11 games. … Edmonton’s last regulation loss was a 6-3 defeat in Los Angeles on Jan. 9. … Sanheim had an assist and three blocked shots. … The Flyers have back-to-back matinees to finish the four-game homestand. They host Nashville at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, then meet Dave Hakstol’s surprising Seattle Kraken on Super Bowl Sunday at 1 p.m.

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