Considering some of the drama surrounding their team, the Flyers had a pretty good response to it all Wednesday night.
But they fell short in another close game, suffering a 3-2 overtime loss to the Oilers at Rogers Place.
Evan Bouchard won it for Edmonton just 47 seconds into OT. Christian Dvorak committed a turnover that led to an odd-man rush.
The loss was the Flyers’ 10th in games decided by one goal. They’re 1-4-6 in such games.
The Flyers, though, should absolutely take the one point they earned Wednesday night from forcing overtime. They played a strong game against a Western Conference contender that sports two of the best players in the world. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl finished with an assist apiece.
Tyson Foerster and Travis Sanheim provided the Flyers’ goals to erase a 2-0 deficit.
The Flyers (5-10-6) are 1-1-2 on their five-game road trip. Prior to Wednesday night’s game, Danny Briere had to address the media, refuting a report about Matvei Michkov wanting out of Philadelphia.
The report surfaced Tuesday, a day after Michkov and Nick Seeler had a heated exchange during the Flyers’ 3-1 win over the Canucks. The two teammates downplayed the moment Wednesday when talking with reporters.
The Flyers face the Oilers (14-3-3) again Sunday when Edmonton visits Xfinity Mobile Arena.
• Dan Vladar converted 21 saves on 24 shots.
On the Oilers’ game-opening goal in the second period, Vladar was burned by a tough bounce that went off the back boards and right to Zach Hyman. The Edmonton winger struck again a little under 10 minutes later on the power play.
But the Flyers countered on their own power play when Foerster cut his team’s deficit to 2-1 with 3:11 minutes left in the middle stanza.
In the third period, Sanheim tied the game with 8:18 minutes remaining on a good move to the net.
Oilers netminder Tristan Jarry stopped 30 of the Flyers’ 32 shots.
Travis Sanheim scored his third goal of the season to tie up the Flyers vs. Oilers game in the third period on Wednesday.
• Michkov played 20:44 minutes, the most among Flyers forwards.
The 21-year-old winger recorded a secondary assist on Sanheim’s goal, giving him 13 points (eight goals, five assists) over the last 13 games.
Michkov and Porter Martone saw some minutes with Trevor Zegras. The three were intriguing together.
• Rasmus Ristolainen returned to the lineup after missing 16 of the last 17 games because of an injury to his left hand.
The 32-year-old defenseman had an assist, three hits and three blocked shots in 18:24 minutes.
The Flyers lost Noel Acciari to an upper-body injury toward the end of the second period. The 34-year-old forward took a spill after appearing to be tripped by Jarry.
We’ll see if there’s an update on Acciari heading into the weekend.
• The Flyers wrap up their road trip Saturday when they visit the Blue Jackets (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).