Koskinen gets first shutout since 2019 in Oilers win against Flyers

PHILADELPHIA --Mikko Koskinen made 39 saves for the Edmonton Oilers in a 3-0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.

It was Koskinen's sixth shutout in the NHL and first since Nov. 8, 2019, when he made 29 saves in a 4-0 win against the New Jersey Devils.
"I've been feeling pretty good all year," Koskinen said. "But when you're winning games, the confidence is growing. It's going higher right now because we're winning, and I'll try to keep it that way."

Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid each had a goal and an assist for Edmonton (30-21-3).
Carter Hart made 29 saves for Philadelphia (16-27-10). The Flyers were 0-for-2 on the power play, including a 51-second 5-on-3 in the first period.
"There were some opportunities that we had, looks that we could've been crisper, been able to take advantage of those opportunities," Flyers coach Mike Yeo said. "I do think that a lot of what we had was from the perimeter. A lot of what we had was from the outside tonight. We certainly didn't make things hard enough on their goalie as far as taking his eyes away, making things difficult, that way of getting those second chances."
Koskinen is 7-0-1 with a 2.34 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in his past eight starts.
"It's about winning," he said. "You either win or lose the game and two points or zero points. I think it's pretty clear that I'm a team player and I don't care about the stats anymore. I'm too old anyway (33). I'm here to win the games and hopefully something bigger."
The players and coaches around Koskinen believe that's possible if he keeps playing at his current level.
"We're confident in him and I'm sure he's pretty confident in himself," Draisaitl said. "He's been playing amazing hockey, keeping us in games, making saves when you need them. That's really all you can ask for from a goalie. He's been great. Obviously we need him to continue that."
Draisaitl gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 17:41 of the first period on a power play. The goal was his 37th of the season, tying Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the NHL lead.
The Flyers had chances on their power play earlier in the period after Kailer Yamamoto was sent off for high-sticking at 13:00 and Koskinen was penalized for delay of game at 14:09. Philadelphia had one shot on goal during the 5-on-3 and three shots on goal during the extended power play.
"We score on that [5-on-3] and it gives us momentum," Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim said.

Yamamoto made it 2-0 at 15:10 of the second period. Hart saved Evan Bouchard's shot from the right face-off circle but couldn't control the rebound, and Yamamoto reached into traffic and slid the puck past him.
The forward missed the previous game, a 2-1 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, because of an undisclosed injury. It was his 11th goal of the season, tying his NHL best from 2019-20.
"He's an important piece of our team," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. "'Yamo' gives us energy on the forecheck, he's a dogged backchecker, just relentless on the backcheck. ... He has a high hockey IQ and is willing to pay a price to score. You don't go to where he went to to get that goal unless you're brave, unless you're willing to pay that price, and he sure was tonight."
McDavid scored into an empty net at 18:20 of the third period for the 3-0 final.
NOTES: McDavid leads the NHL with 77 points (29 goals, 48 assists) and Draisaitl is second with 76 points (37 goals, 39 assists). … McDavid has scored 15 points (six goals, nine assists) during a six-game point streak against the Flyers. ... Oilers defenseman Duncan Keith was plus-2 in 15:56 after missing nine games with an upper-body injury. … Edmonton forward Brad Malone had three hits in 9:22 in his 200th NHL game, his first since April 6, 2019. He was recalled from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League on Monday. … Koskinen's six shutouts tied Dwayne Roloson for seventh in Oilers history. … Edmonton is 17-0-0 when scoring first. … Philadelphia is 1-for-17 on the power play in its past six games (5.9 percent). … It was Edmonton's win at Philadelphia since March 3, 2016. The Oilers lost their previous three games here (0-2-1). ... It was the first time in seven games Edmonton did not allow a power-play goal; it was 16-for-24 (66.7 percent) on the penalty kill in its previous six games.