Flyers show a lot of Hart in Edmonton. The Philadelphia Flyers kicked off the road portion of their season with an impressive 5-3 victory over the previously undefeated Edmonton McDavid’s…Err…Oilers (5-1-0). Carter Hart continued his break-out season with 34 saves which put his goals-against average at 2.73 with a save percentage of .918. Hart was especially impressive in the middle stanza when the Oilers outshot the visitors, 12-6.
“He was great,” Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle said. “Against a team like that, they’re super explosive and they can make plays out of nothing.” “You always have to be on your game defensively and the goaltender is a big part of that. He made a lot of big stops for us and it was a big team effort.”Goaltending and puck control were keys to the win.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Philadelphia won the face-off battle, 58% to 42%. Claude Giroux led the pack with his 9 of 13. Derick Brassard posted 7 out of 11.
Edmonton’s main face off threat, Leon Draisaitl was neutralized and had a dismal, 8 of 21. Connor McDavid was outstanding with his 10 wins off 14 draws.
TO THE GAME
The Fly Boys jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and never looked back. Claude Giroux (1g, 1a) continued his hot streak when he capitalized on Oilers netminder, Mikko Koskinen over committing to the far side, and Captain Claude scored his fourth of the season by stuffing the puck on the short side. Travis Konecny (1a) and Sean Couturier got the helpers.
On a goalmouth scramble, Nate Thompson slid home his first of the season at the 10:05 mark making it a two-goal advantage.
Tyson Barrie cut the lead in half just :35 later to kick off a wild final 10 minutes. McDavid converted passes from Barrie and Ryan Nugent-Harris to knot it up with just :13 to play off the only Power Play goal of the evening. Fans who left their seats thinking the period was over missed one final highlight that happened. With less than a second to play, Cam Atkinson picked up his 9th goal in 18 games against Edmonton to end the first with a 3-2 Philadelphia lead.
THAT WAS FUN
It took Edmonton all of :54 to even the score when Zach Hyman beat Hart for his sixth. That would be the only second period scoring and off to the final stanza to see who wanted it more. Apparently, it would be the Flyers who turned up the heat.
Outshooting Edmonton 16-12 and were rewarded with Cam Atkinson potting his 6th of the season off a set up from Giroux and Justin Braun (2a). Couturier would cement the contest with an empty-net goal with 1:01 remaining.
DIS AND DAT
Of Atkinson’s six goals, five have been go-ahead goals. McDavid came into the game having recorded a point in 13 of the 17 periods the Oilers had played. How much help did the defense give Hart? An unworldly 26 blocked shots. Edmonton went 1 of 4 on the man-up with 3 penalties coming in the first period. Philadelphia was shut out on their two tries. Flyers show a lot of Hart.
Kevin has followed and promoted the game of lacrosse since May 19, 1974.
The same day the Philadelphia Flyers won the Cup, the Philadelphia Wings were introduced to Neibauer and Philadelphia.
Kevin has covered many sports, including baseball, football, basketball, and.. lacrosse. A former licensed football referee and baseball umpire, Kevin brings a unique insight to his game coverage.
A published writer in JustHockey Magazine, Kevin covered the American Hockey League as well as a monthly story on a pugilist where Kevin used the pen name, The Rink Rat. Neibauer turned his attentions to lacrosse for a few years and does his part, whether podcasting or writing to grow the game. Kevin branched out to his roots and currently provides insight for all Philadelphia teams for Edge of Philly as well as his full-time duties with LaxPhilly.
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