Michal Neuvirth stopped 45 of 48 shots, but it was a couple of bad third-period bounces that gave the Edmonton Oilers a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. In total, Edmonton outshot the Orange and Black 49-22. It was total domination by the home team in the Flyers’ last game on the terrible ice surface at Rexall Place.
After a promising start to the season, the Flyers are 0-4-1 in their last five games. Here’s what I saw:
• 19-2. NINETEEN TO TWO! The Flyers’ first period effort was so poor that many veteran hockey watchers admitted on Twitter that they had never seen anything quite like it. There isn’t much to say about the first 20 minutes, except the Orange and Black would’ve escaped unscathed if…
• The penalty kill gave the goalie any help. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, one of the Oilers’ 40 (estimated) first overall picks, scored at 19:56. There was a lot of standing when Neuvirth was clearly flailing in desperation:
• Neuvirth, who I think we can already safely call an incredible offseason signing by Ron Hextall, was ridiculously good. Steve Mason’s backup was the only reason the Flyers were in the game after one, and he continued to flash the leather:
• Ah, the penalty kill. The Oilers only scored one goal in five chances with the man advantage, but they were consistently getting way too many good looks (12 high-danger chances, per War on Ice).
• Connor McDavid, the prize of this year’s NHL Draft and the reason that the Buffalo Sabres tanked last season, took a nasty hit to his shoulder and didn’t return. It appeared like the impressive rookie lost an edge and took out Brandon Manning and Michael Del Zotto. McDavid wouldn’t return to the game, and hopefully he won’t miss too much time.
• Speaking of Manning, he finished with a -7 5v5 Corsi differential and generally looked overmatched for the second straight night. In the first period, he even took two penalties on the same shift, which resulted in Nugent-Hopkins’ goal. With an injured Evgeny Medvedev back in Philadelphia, there aren’t any other options for Dave Hakstol.
• The Flyers’ goalscorers were Scott Laughton and Ryan White, which means the first line was held off the board again. Jake Voracek is still driving possession, but we’re getting past the point where that doesn’t do anything for a team desperate for its big guns to produce some points.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann