Connor McDavid had a goal and four assists, Leon Draisaitl added two goals and one assist, and the Edmonton Oilers’ dynamic duo continued their sizzling start to the season Wednesday night in a 6-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
It was McDavid’s third career five-point game. Mikko Koskinen made 49 saves for Edmonton (6-1-0) in his third win of the season.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Ethan Bear and former Flyer Brandon Manning each scored their first goal of 2019-20.
Jakub Voracek scored twice for Philadelphia (2-2-1) and assisted on Oskar Lindblom’s goal.
It was a tough night for Flyers goalie Carter Hart, who allowed four goals on 14 shots. He was pulled in the second period after Nugent-Hopkins’ power-play goal and replaced by Brian Elliott.
The loss extended Philadelphia’s skid to three games and marked the end of a road trip that included three games in five days.
Edmonton got off to a quick start as Draisaitl scored his fifth of the season 1:13 in, beating Hart with a hard snap shot over the blocker.
The Flyers tied it with the man advantage when Voracek buried the puck off a big rebound from Claude Giroux’s shot. But the Oilers responded just more than seven minutes later as Bear jumped into the rush and took a feed from James Neal, beating Hart with a wrist shot to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead.
The Flyers pressed hard for an equalizer in the second period, but Koskinen came up with a plethora of big saves. His two biggest stops came on Sean Couturier’s one-timer from the slot and a stick save against a wide-open Shayne Gostisbehere in front.
The goalie’s strong play sparked the Oilers in the second. After being dominated during the first half of the period, Edmonton broke loose with three goals in less than four minutes to take complete control.
McDavid outmuscled Flyers defenseman Justin Braun to make it 3-1 at the 12:34 mark, then Nugent-Hopkins and Draisaitl scored power-play goals 1:54 apart to give Edmonton a 5-1 cushion late in the period.
McDavid added his fifth point of the game in the third with a nice drop pass to Manning, who fired a one-timer past Elliott.
Lindblom tipped in a drive from Voracek for his third goal of the season with 4:40 remaining. Voracek added his second power-play goal of the game with 2:18 to go.
Edmonton’s special teams have been a big key to its strong start. The Oilers were 2 for 2 with the man advantage and are 10 for 22 in seven games.
NOTES: The Oilers paid tribute to former coach Ted Green, who died last week at 79. … McDavid’s previous five-point games came against Toronto in February 2016 and Tampa Bay in February 2018. … Manning dressed for the first time this season after being a healthy scratch for the first six games. … Oscar Klefbom’s assist on McDavid’s second-period goal was the 100th of his NHL career.
UP NEXT
Flyers: Host the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.
Oilers: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night.
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