GAME RECAP: Flyers 2, Oilers 1 (SO)

PHILADELPHIA, PA - James Van Riemsdyk scored the shootout winner as the Philadelphia Flyers picked up the 2-1 shootout win over the Oilers on Thursday night.
Both goaltenders were phenomenal on the evening, with Stuart Skinner turning away 35 of 36 shots in regulation and overtime opposite Carter Hart, who stopped 34 of 35 Oilers attempts.
"I thought both goalies were good. I thought both teams had really good chances, and Stu made every save that we needed him to make," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said post-game. "The first one goes off a stick and gets up over his shoulder, but he was great and really competitive. Credit to their team and their goalie as well, because they played a hard game and their goalie played well too."
Evander Kane score the Oilers lone goal in regulation for his eighth of the season, while Kevin Hayes lit the lamp for the Flyers. Connor McDavid recorded the assist on the Kane tally, extending his point streak to 14 games. The Oilers captain has now recorded at least a point in 31 of his last 32 contests.
Despite the loss, the Oilers point streak was extended to 10 games -- their longest such streak since December 2005.
The Oilers will head to Ottawa for the first game of an all-Canadian back-to-back starting with a Saturday morning matchup against the Senators.

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FIRST BLOOD

For the second game in a row on the road trip, the Oilers found themselves chasing the game midway through the first period.
The Flyers found success in their transition game early in the contest, and it was Kevin Hayes who finally capitalized for the home side 7:50 into the game. Defenceman Travis Sanheim jumped up into the attack before dropping a pass to Hayes at the left circle. The 30-year-old fired a shot towards the Oilers net, which ramped up off the blade of Tyson Barrie's stick and over the shoulder of Stuart Skinner for Hayes' 16th goal of the season.
The Flyers had their legs going early in the game, having not played since Monday against the New York Islanders -- jumping out to a 10-7 shot advantage after the first period.

MAKE IT THREE

Looks like Evander Kane's wrist is doing just fine.
The sniper scored in his third consecutive contest, tying the game 1-1 just 1:56 into the second period. The play started with a solid breakup in the Oilers defensive zone before Connor McDavid blitzed up the right wing and dropped a pass for Kane to snap past Carter Hart for his eighth of the year.
The 31-year-old has started to re-establish himself as the force that scored 35 goals in his first 58 games (regular season and playoffs) with the Blue & Orange. After going pointless in his first three games back from the traumatic wrist injury he suffered back on Nov. 8 against Tampa Bay, Kane has racked up three goals and one assist on 14 shots.
"I thought Evander, along with Skins, were our two best players tonight," Woodcroft said. "I thought they were both ultra competitive. Evander was physical. He shot the puck. He's playing the game the right way. He's getting up to speed."
"For someone to come back from that injury, we anticipate it's going to take him a little while to get up and running," he added. "But I think he played whale of a game, and the better he can play, the more dangerous of a team we are."

SAVE OF THE GAME

In his first start since competing in the NHL All-Star Game, Skinner continued to show why he was voted in to represent the Oilers down in South Florida.
The 24-year-old was solid all night, especially as the Flyers pressed hard early on in the contest. Skinner's best stop of the night came late in the second period with the score deadlocked at 1-1 when he flashed the glove on a Sanheim wrist shot from the slot.
Skinner was starting opposite to fellow Edmonton area product Carter Hart, who was born in Sherwood Park. It was the Flyers netminder who outdueled his fellow Northern Albertan on the evening, turning aside 34 of 35 shots in the win.
"It was fun," Skinner said about going up against Hart. "He's a fantastic goalie and I've been able to work with him a bit and become good friends, so it's always fun playing against him, but kind of pisses me off he beat me."

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

The Oilers had looked to have taken the lead with 12:36 remaining in the game after Warren Foegele, who scored two goals the game before, crashed the Flyers crease. His initial attempt was stopped by Hart, but Zach Hyman quickly tapped the rebound into the gaping net. Unfortunately for the Oilers, the net was wide open because Foegele's skate dragged Hart out of the crease on the follow through.
The goal was the fifth would be goal scored by Hyman to later be overturned by the officials or video review. The disallowed goal leaves Hyman at 26 on the season, one away from tying his career high set last year in his first season with the Oilers.

PARTING WORDS

Head Coach Jay Woodcroft's on the tight checking in Philadelphia:
"I thought it was a very aggressive game. I thought both teams got in on the forecheck and that's where the aggression was. It wasn't in terms of fisticuffs or anything like that. I thought it was a tightly contested game where every square inch of the ice was up for grabs and contested hard. It was a hard game for both teams, and in the end, we didn't come away with the extra point in the skills contest."
Coach Woodcroft on the positives from the game:
"I thought there's some positives to be taken out of that game. I thought our penalty kill was good again. I thought our goalie gave us a chance to win. I think anytime you hold a team to one goal, that's a real positive. They got the extra one in the shootout, but the better we can play defensively, I think the more chances we'll have to win. To come into a tough building versus a team that plays hard and get a point, I think that's a positive for our team."

Stuart Skinner on the team's performance:
"Yeah, that was a good game. I thought we definitely did enough to win that. Fell short in the shootout. I mean, it's tough to win a shootout when I'm letting in two, something for me to work on."
Brett Kulak on the performance of Stuart Skinner:
"He's the reason we got a point tonight, so good goalies do that. If the team is not there, he showed up for us and he made a number of really big saves that saved guaranteed goals. So, yeah, hats off to him, he got us a point tonight."