GAME RECAP: Flyers 6, Oilers 3

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Defenceman John Klingberg scored his first Oilers goal and forward Matt Savoie recorded his first-career point, but the Edmonton Oilers were beaten 6-3 by the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center in their first game back from the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

Klingberg's first goal since Apr. 3, 2023 and Savoie's first NHL assist on Leon Draisaitl's 41st goal of the campaign during the opening period gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes before the Flyers scored four of the next five goals while taking advantage of Edmonton's turnovers to build their lead.

Philadelphia's second line of Owen Tippett, Sean Couturier, and Matvei Michkov combined for eight points on Saturday and did the heavy lifting for the Flyers, who solved Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner five times on 31 shots. Defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen's goal was an empty-netter with 2:59 remaining.

"I think what really cost us was the turnovers and trying to make plays when there's not a play to be made, or not being able to get the puck in deep," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "Four even-strength goals, and all of them were just direct result of turnover. We're not in a good position to defend because usually on turnovers, everyone's thinking something else and they capitalized."

Leon Draisaitl finished with a goal and an assist after scoring in the first period before setting up defenceman Mattias Ekholm's eighth of the campaign during the middle frame that made it 3-3 before the Flyers scored three unanswered.

"To a man, I think a lot of those plays and the execution, we can have a higher level," defenceman Darnell Nurse said. "This is a big trip coming up, and competition only gets higher from here. So for us, we gotta shake it off and tomorrow's another big test for us."

The Oilers will look to respond on Sunday afternoon at Capital One Arena against the Washington Capitals in the second of back-to-back games.

FIRST PERIOD

The Oilers were still adjusting from a lengthy layoff from action when they were tagged for the opening goal from Matvei Michkov only 2:07 into the opening frame to fall behind 1-0 early in Philadelphia.

Evan Bouchard was alone up ice when he gave away the puck near the Flyers' blueline to send the hosts back on the counter with fresh legs coming off the bench, including winger Matvei Michkov, who picked up a pass from Scott Laughton before crossing into Edmonton's zone. The Russian sent his initial shot wide from the top of the right circle, but followed his rebound that bounced off the boards behind the Oilers net before putting it away from the left side.

Pucks on goal are a great way to get your team's game back after a long break, and defenceman Ty Emberson's routine wrister five minutes later did just that to produce a big rebound from goaltender Samuel Ersson that allowed John Klingberg to sneak in and score his first Oilers goal.

It was the Swedish blueliner's first marker in 691 days (Apr. 3, 2023 vs. Vegas) when he was a member of the Minnesota Wild.

It was an afternoon of firsts for the Oilers after they took the lead at 2-1 before the midway mark of the period thanks to the first NHL point for forward Matt Savoie, who used his speed to win a forecheck against Rasmus Ristolainen before getting it out front to Leon Draisaitl to score his 41st goal of the season.

After scoring, Draisaitl pointed directly to Savoie to acknowledge his terrific pass before letting him take the lead during the fly-by past the bench. The St. Albert product's performance was one of the few positives for the Oilers on an afternoon when things started to unravel in the second period.

"I thought Matt was one of the bright spots of our team. I thought he played really well," Knoblauch said. "Obviously he gets on the forecheck, sets up the first goal, and the next shift after that he made an unbelievable play on the breakout that led to a partial two-on-one. He made some defensive plays on the back check. I was very happy with this game."

The 21-year-old registered his first-career point while making his Oilers debut in only his second-career NHL game, having been second in team scoring for the AHL's Bakersfield Condors with 37 points (13G, 24A) in 45 games and 10 points (3G, 7A) in his previous nine AHL contests prior to being called up.

SECOND PERIOD

Safe to say, there's still some rust for the Oilers left to shake off after giving up four goals in the middle frame to fall behind by a pair to the Flyers heading into the final 20 minutes of their first of consecutive back-to-backs coming out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

"Everybody's doing everything they can to be ready to come back, and sometimes, you just feel that little bit of rust in that first game," Adam Henrique said. "It's about practice and going over the details and everything that we need to do to be ready, but once you get into the game and get going, it's certainly nice to get back in the swing of things."

Owen Tippett created a turnover near the Oilers bench and batted the puck past Connor Brown at the blueline before getting into a foot race with Brett Kulak and finishing a nice backhand over the right shoulder of Stuart Skinner to tie the game only 1:45 into the period with his first of two goals in the middle frame.

"They skate well and they simplify their game as much as anybody around the league where they just depend on working hard and skating," Knoblauch said. "But if you execute with the puck a lot better than we did tonight, you're able to spend more time in the offensive zone, but on the counter, counter they catch you standing still. So a lot of credit to them, but a lot of misplays by us."

Almost five-and-a-half mintues later, Sean Couturier was the benefactor of another giveaway by Bouchard off a defensive-zone faceoff that saw Michkov pick off the puck in the slot before throwing it to the far post where Couturier was waiting to put home his 200th career goal, retaking the lead for the Flyers.

Leon Draisaitl's amazing back-hand pass to Mattias Ekholm just 1:21 later lifted us back into a tie at 3-3 after the Swedish defenceman tucked his effort top shelf for a terrific finish off an even nicer pass from the German that marked his 85th point of the campaign (41G, 44A) in 56 games this season.

Tippett tucked away his second goal off a quick rush by ther Flyers at 12:26 of the period after Mattias Janmark had his pocket picked in the neutral zone to send the two forwards up ice and restore the Flyers' lead, with Michkov making the feed to Tippett through the blue paint and under Darnell Nurse. Philadelphia's line of Tippett, Couturier and MIchkov was an impressive plus-4 on Saturday afternoon with the Russian tallying a goal and two assists.

"Execution," described Nurse as the difference. "Then as D-men, we didn't deny the line enough and we also didn't get back fast enough, so you have that combination against a team with skill, it's gonna sting you."

"I think when we're playing our best, there's a level of simplicity to our game as well, and I think we have to bring more of an element of simplicity and especially going to the next game."

Edmonton's task got more difficult on the game's first power play before the break with Klingberg in the box for high-sticking, leading to Travis Konecny setting up a deflection for newcomer Andrei Kuzmenko in the slot to make it 5-3 on his first goal in Philadelphia colours.

THIRD PERIOD

The Oilers killed off another high-sticking infraction to Kulak in the first five minutes of the third period before Stuart Skinner kept them in it by denying Kuzmenko his second goal with a sliding save on a shot-pass meant for a deflection, which was the Flyers' theme for offence all afternoon.

Edmonton needed to convert on their only power play that arrived with 6:26 to go in regulation, but the highlight of the man advantage ended up being a save from Stuart Skinner on a short-handed two-on-none for the Flyers, but time was not on their side as they pulled their goalie with over three minutes left.

"We left Skins out there to dry way too many times giving up breakaways," Knoblauch said. "Two-on-nones and it wasn't a very good or sound effort by us defensively whatsoever."

Defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen iced a 200-foot shot into the empty cage that sealed a 6-3 defeat for the Oilers in their first game in over two weeks following the 4 Nations break. Edmonton will be back in action to finish back-to-back games on Sunday afternoon against the Washington Capitals.