Postgame 5: Flyers Drill Oilers, 6-3

The Philadelphia Flyers outworked the Edmonton Oilers and skated to a 6-3 win at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon. A four-goal outburst by the Flyers in the second period turned a 2-1 deficit into a solid grip on the game.

At 2:07 of the first period, the Flyers scored a transition rush goal to grab a 1-0 lead. Egor Zamula broke up a play in the defensive zone. Scott Laughton played the puck ahead. After missing a shot attempt to the short side, Matvei Michkov (17th goal of the season) followed it up and scored from the other slot. The goal was Michkov's third in two games against Edmonton this season.

The Oilers tied the game at 7:06. A skittering shot by Ty Emberson rebounded to defenseman John Klingberg (1st) at the other side of the net. Klingberg didn't get much on the follow but the puck trickled into the net. The secondary assist went to Connor Brown.

NHL leading goal scorer Leon Draisaitl (41st) gave Edmonton a 2-1 lead at 9:31. After Klingberg got the puck in deep, Matt Savoie beat Rasmus Ristolainen in a battle behind the net. Savoie then threaded a pass in front by Ryan Poehling to an open Draisaitl. The assists went to Savoie and Klingberg.

A dangerous looking rush for Connor McDavid was broken up by a clutch block by Nick Seeler. Meanwhile, the Flyers went without a shot on goal of their own for nine-plus minutes between routine shots put on goal by Travis Sanheim and Jamie Drysdale. First period shots ended up 9-8 in the Flyers' favor. The Flyers won seven of thirteen faceoffs, led by Scott Laughton (3-for-4).

On a tremendous individual effort coast to coast, Owen Tippett (15th goal) put on a burst of speed past Brett Kulak. Tippett moved in and elevated the puck on the backhand over goalie Stuart Skinner to forge a 2-2 deadlock at 1:45 of the second period. The goal was unassisted.

Another highlight reel play followed at 7:13, resulting in Sean Couturier's 200th career goal. Under pressure, the Oilers turned the puck over and Michkov made a gorgeous setup pass for a slam dunk by team captain Couturier (9th of the season).

The 3-2 lead was short-lived. At 8:34, Edmonton forged a 3-3 tie. Draisaitl was the catalyst on the sequence, with a backhanded saucer pass. Denseman Mattias Ekholm (8th) finished it off from close quarters near the net.

Tippett struck again (16th of the season, his second of the game at 12:26 to open a 4-3 lead. Couturier started the play with a quick stick in the neutral zone, and his linemates cashed in the counterattack. Michkov fed across on the backhand to TIppett, who beat goalie Skinner from point-blank range.

The Flyers went to the game's first power play at 14:20 on a high-sticking minor against Klingberg in the defensive zone as his stick came up on Andrei Kuzmenko. At 15:37, Kuzmenko re-directed a Konecny shot into the net (fifth of the season, first as a Flyer) for a power play goal and a 5-3 lead. The assists went to Konecny (40th of the season) and Ristolainen.

Following the Kuzmenko tally, the Flyers had golden chances for Michkov and Tippett on the same shift late in the second period. Shots on goal for the period were 13-7 in Philadelphia's favor (22-15 Flyers overall). Thirteen turnovers by the defending Western Conference champion Oilers -- 11 charged giveaways plus two takeaways credited to the Flyers -- took a toll on Edmonton to Philly's benefit.

Tippett started a scoring chance sequence early in the third period. He faked a dump-in and then shoveled the puck to Michkov. The Oilers were caught off guard as Ristolainen joined the play and Michkov attempted to follow up in close. The Flyers went to their second power play at 4:15 as Kulak high-sticked Kuzmenko. The Flyers generated a lot of offensive zone time but could not score. After the penalty ended, Tippett intercepted a puck from Darnell Nurse and sped off up the ice for another countering opportunity.

On a single shift, Ristolainen maneuvered around Klingberg and powered the puck to the net. Moments later, he delivered a crushing hit in the neutral zone on Jeff Skinner. On the next shift, Samuel Ersson denied Savoie.

With 6:26 remaining in regulation, Noah Cates was called for hooking Jeff Skinner down low in the defensive zone. The Oilers went to their first power play of the game. Late in the successful kill, Scott Laughton and Konecny had a 2-on-0 shorthanded breakaway. At 15:56, with play back at 5-on-5, the Flyers went offside. After a TV timeout, the Oilers pulled Stuart Skinner for a 6-on-5 attack.

At 17:01, Ristolainen (3rd of the season) scored from long distance into the empty net for a 6-3 lead. Couturier earned the only assist.

Third period shots on goal were 10-4 in Philly's favor. Overall, the Flyers outshot Edmonton, 32-18.

Ersson stopped 15 of 18 shots to earn the win. In a losing cause, Stuart Skinner allowed five goals on 31 shots.

The Flyers went 1-for-2 on the power play. They were 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

96 Andrei Kuzmenko - 21 Scott Laughton - 11 Travis Konecny

71 Tyson Foerster - 27 Noah Cates - 10 Bobby Brink

74 Owen Tippett - 14 Sean Couturier - 39 Matvei Michkov

22 Jaob Pelletier - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway

8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim

24 Nick Seeler - 9 Jamie Drysdale

5 Egor Zamula - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen

33 Samuel Ersson

[82 Ivan Fedotov]

Scratches: 44 Nicolas Deslauriers (healthy), 77 Erik Johnson (healthy), 35 Aleksei Kolosov (healthy).

PP1: Ristolainen, Konecny, Laughton, Kuzmenko, Michkov

PP2: Drysdale, Foerster, Cates, Brink, Sanheim

TURNING POINT

Couturier made three key plays leading up to his milestone 200th career goal. After an offensive zone faceoff loss to McDavid, Couturier supplied the forechecking pressure that led to a turnover by Evan Bouchard. Michkov intercepted the puck over the middle. Couturier presented a target near the net, and Michkov made a gorgeous pass. Finally, Couturier made no mistake on the finish near the blue paint. The trio of Couturier, Michkov and Tippett finished at plus-five for the afternoon.

POSTGAME 5 ("5 THINGS" REVISITED)

1. Healthy bodies return: Tippett, Poehling, Ristolainen and Egor Zamula were all back in the Flyers' lineup in the first game after the 4 Nations break. All of the players made contributions to the win, but none more so than Tippett. The winger had excellent jump in his skates, shift after shift, throughout the game.

2. Jakob Pelletier's Flyers debut: In his first game as a Flyers, Pelletier skated 11:48 across 15 shifts. He was credited with one hit, one blocked shot and one shot on net. Most notably, Pelletier had a second period scoring chance off the rush.

3. Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim: The Flyers' two representatives on Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off made their presence felt in the first game after the break. Sanheim logged 22:43 of ice time, blocked two shots and generated a pair of shots on goal. Konecny, in 19:05 of ice time, had three shots on goal and a power play assist on the Kuzmenko goal.

4. Between the pipes -- Samuel Ersson: The Flyers' lone 4 Nations representative on Team Sweden made a clutch save on McDavid from the bottom of the left circle early in the first period. However, Ersson left the rebound in a bad spot for the Klinberg goal several shifts later. He didn't have much chance of stopping either the Draisaitl or Ekholm (off a Draisaitl setup pass) goals. On the whole, this was not really a game for the goalies: It was one where the offense shined.

5. Noah Cates tasked with containing Connor McDavid: It was more of a collective effort than an individual shutdown performance but it's always notable when a team manages to hold McDavid off the scoresheet. McDavid's 11-game point streak against the Flyers came to an end.