Flyers score twice in 3rd to hand Oilers 1st loss of season

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Cam Atkinson scored a pair of goals as the Philadelphia Flyers prevailed in a 5-3 slugfest over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night.

Claude Giroux, Nate Thompson and Sean Couturier also scored for the Flyers, and Carter Hart had 34 saves.

Tyson Barrie, Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman scored for the Oilers in their first loss of the season, and Mikko Koskinen had 29 saves.

Philadelphia started the scoring seven minutes into the first period as Giroux picked up an errant Travis Konecny shot behind the net and put the wraparound in for his fourth of the season before Koskinen could get across his crease.

The Flyers got a bit of a gift goal midway through the first period when Koskinen coughed the puck up behind the net, leading Thompson to shovel it in from the goal line.

However, Edmonton got that goal back 35 seconds later as Barrie beat Hart with a backhand shot from a sharp angle.

The first period ended in a flurry of action, as the Oilers tied it on the power play with 18 seconds left when a McDavid pass was inadvertently deflected in by a Flyers defender. But with less than a second to play, Philadelphia went up 3-2 when Darnell Nurse mishandled the puck and Atkinson batted it in out of mid-air.

Edmonton tied the game less than a minute into the second period as Hyman scored his fifth goal in the last three games out of a scramble in front.

The Flyers surged back in front four minutes into the third frame as Atkinson blasted his sixth of the season past Koskinen. Couturier added an empty-netter in the final minute.

NOTES: The last time the two teams played each other was on Oct. 16, 2019. … Goalie Mike Smith (lower body) remained out for the Oilers, while defenseman Ryan Ellis (undisclosed) and forward Kevin Hayes (abdomen) were out with injuries for the Flyers. ... Philly forward Patrick Brown has recovered from a bout with COVID-19, but was still unable to travel to Canada.

UP NEXT:

Philadelphia: At Vancouver on Thursday.

Edmonton: At Vancouver on Saturday.