*Photo from the Sacramento Bee*
No matter what happens from here on out, the Philadelphia Flyers made sure that the Edmonton Oilers would not be undefeated this season. Cam Atkinson scored twice, Claude Giroux scored, and the Flyers defeated the Oilers 5-3 on Wednesday night.
Flyers forward James Van Riemsdyk was very pleased by the game played from the Flyers, saying that "They're very explosive, and you can't really take a shift off against them because they can make plays out of nothing, it seems like. It was a strong effort by us, a big two points."
Since being traded to the Flyers this offseason, Atkinson has been on quite a roll to start the season. In his first 5 games in a new uniform for the first time in his career, Atkinson has scored 6 goals to begin the season. He was traded to the Flyers from the Columbus Blue Jackets this offseason in exchange for Jakub Voracek.
Giroux kicked off the scoring for the Flyers, scoring his 4th of the season 7:22 into the first period, making it a 1-0 Flyers lead. At the 10:05 mark, Nate Thompson lit the lamp, with his first goal making it 2-0 Flyers. 35 seconds later, Tyson Barrie got the Oilers on the board, cutting the deficit to 2-1 in favor of the Flyers. With 18 seconds left, Connor McDavid scored to tie the game 2-2, but Atkinson scored with just one second left in the period to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead after one period.
Just 54 seconds into the second period, Zach Hyman quickly scored his 6th goal of the season for the Oilers, and it was tied again, by a 3-3 score. It stayed that way until 4:18 into the 3rd period, when Atkinson scored his second goal of the night and a game winning goal, putting the Flyers ahead 4-3. With 59 seconds left in the game, Sean Couturier deposited the puck into the empty net, making it a 5-3 lead and wrapping up the win.
Carter Hart got the start in goal for the Flyers, and he had another good night to start the season, a good sign after a horrid season last year. Hart saved 34 of 37 shots the Oilers sent his way, posting a .919 save percentage in the win. As a result, Hart's record moved to 2-1-1 to begin the season.
Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle said of Hart's outing that "Hart was great. 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."
Mikko Koskinen got hit with the loss for Edmonton in his start. Koskinen saved 29 of 33 shots he saw from the Flyers, posting a .879 save percentage to bring his season total to .926 in 4 games. Koskinen saw his record drop to 3-1-0 this season.
Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said of the loss that "I think we had enough chances, especially in the second period. The second period, if not our best, may have been one of the best we have played so far this year. We definitely had enough chances. The bottom line is they just got that extra one. That is just the way it goes in this league. I thought we worked hard and kept pushing at the end but, unfortunately, couldn't get it."
The Flyers get back into action on Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks, with Martin Jones lined up to start the second half of a back to back. The Oilers don't play again until Saturday, when they also face the Canucks. Mike Smith could potentially start for Edmonton.
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