Whoever mentioned preventing had no place in hockey?
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There was extra to it than that, however a pair of fights impressed the Oilers to their first win of the season in an extra time thriller in opposition to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday evening.
The Oilers received off to an inauspicious begin, taking a too-many-men penalty 4 minutes into the primary interval. The Flyers made them pay, as Matvei Michkov notched his first profession NHL objective by jamming the puck previous Stuart Skinner. Kris Knoblauch challenged for goaltender interference, however the objective stood.
Michkov made the Oilers pay on the powerplay but once more lower than 5 minutes afterward with a Draisaitl-esque one-timer from close to the objective line, giving the Flyers a 2-0 lead.
The Oilers answered again early within the second, when Adam Henrique buried a centering move from Mattias Janmark that deflected into the slot off goaltender Samuel Ersson. The third line got here up massive once more within the second, with Connor Brown ending off a wonderful tic-tac-toe to tie the sport at 2.
That lead did not final lengthy, nonetheless. One of many Oilers’ many, many penalties got here again to chunk them, as a move from Bobby Brink deflected off Mattias Ekholm’s stick and previous Stuart Skinner simply as a Flyers powerplay was ending, giving the Flyers a 3-2 lead heading into the ultimate body.
Edmonton received an enormous increase from an unlikely supply within the third interval. After Flyers captain Sean Couturier stunned Stuart Skinner behind the web, defenceman Troy Stecher caught as much as him and dropped the gloves. Regardless of a six-inch measurement defecit, the Oilers defender fought the 6’4″ Couturier to a draw, eliciting enormous cheers from the group and his teammates.
The pugilism wasn’t over, as Corey Perry fought Joel Farabee off the following faceoff to even louder cheers. From there, the Oilers have been on a mission.
They have been lastly rewarded within the last 4 minutes of the interval, when Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Evan Bouchard related on one other classic Oilers tic-tac-toe to knot the sport up at 3 and ship the sport to extra time.
Time beyond regulation did not final lengthy. Draisaitl, who was benched for some time through the third interval after taking an ill-advised cross-checking penalty late within the second, redeemed himself together with his second level of the sport lower than a minute into the additional body. The sport winner was one other McDavid-Draisaitl affair, as Draisaitl buried the second probability on a foiled McDavid breakaway to place the Flyers and finish the sport at 4-3.
Oilers Participant Of The Sport: Leon Draisaitl
Not usually a participant who will get benched within the third interval is known as the participant of the sport. Draisaitl’s cross-check on Garnet Hathaway was borne out of frustration after the Flyers took the lead late within the second interval, and his flip was skipped a pair occasions within the third.
He redeemed himself in very Leon Draisaitl vogue, nonetheless, discovering McDavid with a beautiful spin-o-rama transfer to arrange the tying objective. He than after all did what he does finest in extra time, following McDavid to the web to offer the Oilers their first win of the season in dramatic vogue.
Oilers Play Of The Sport
What else however the first Oilers sport winner of the yr? Leon Draisaitl from that shut with no Flyers close to him (due to a fly-by from rookie Matvei Michkov) is as automated because it will get.
It was removed from excellent, however each two factors rely, and by the top of the sport the Oilers appeared like their normal selves. A comeback extra time win fueled by a dominant third line, two fights from depth gamers, and completed off by the staff’s stars is strictly what the physician ordered to complete the staff’s first homestand.
The Oilers are again in motion on Thursday, beginning their first highway journey of the season in opposition to the Nashville Predators.
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