Oilers’ third period rally sinks Flyers, 4-2

In Edmonton, the visiting Philadelphia Flyers kept in interesting for two periods of play on Tuesday, leading the Oilers, 2-1, headed to the third.

In the third, the Oilers rallied with three unanswered goals for a 4-2 win.

Leon Draisaitl scored off the power play to even the match, 2-2, at 6:49.

“[McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins] are two of the best players in the world, plain and simple,” Draisaitl said. “It is so much fun sharing the ice with these two. I feel very fortunate and very honored that I get to play with these two for a long time. We were a little sluggish, maybe, for the first two periods. Weren’t very sharp with the puck and couldn’t create too much in any way, so coming out with two points and playing a pretty good third period is big for us.”

Conor McDavid then hit for a double to send the Oilers to the win.

“We didn’t really have our stuff. We were pretty flat,” McDavid said. “Only 10 shots through 40 [minutes], that isn’t good enough. But I thought we had a great response. Give them credit, they played us hard. They’re a stingy team that keeps everything to the outside. I thought we did a good job of generating offense in the third.”

Philadelphia took a 1-0 lead in the opening period on a goal from Noah Cates.

“They have some superstar players that just need a little space or a little bounce, and that’s why they’re the best players in the world,” Cates said. “I thought for the most part, when we were forechecking and getting pucks in and staying below the dots, that’s our game in general, but especially against an offensive team like that, that’s how we need to play. Two-and-a-half periods of that just wasn’t enough tonight with those star players who just need a little time and space.”

Tyson Barrie tied it for Edmonton with three seconds left in the stanza.

Owen Tippett scored in the middle frame to give the Flyers a 2-1 advantage after 40 minutes.

“I think we knew that if we stayed out of the box and stayed 5-on-5 it would be a close game,” Tippett said. “I think for most of the night our effort was there, and it was just a few bounces.”

McDavid scored what would prove to be the game-winner, at at 12:39.

“The third period was more like the way we wanted to play on a night when maybe everyone’s body didn’t feel the way they wanted it to feel,” Edmonton coach Jay Woodcroft said. “Things weren’t as clean as they normally are for us, but we found a way on a muddy track to get the job done.”

The Flyers dropped to 23-26-10.

“We’re a team playing four in six nights, we get bag-skated through the trip through a lousy game in Seattle (6-2 loss to the Kraken on Thursday), travel. I’m proud of the team,” Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. “We don’t find a way to finish the game, the penalties hurt us tonight. I thought the team laid it out there. They did all the things we asked of them and we played a hard game, we just couldn’t find a way to win.”

McDavid struck for a shorthanded, empty-net goal at 17:35 of the third for the 4-2 final.