Oilers fortunate to grab point in shootout loss largely dominated by Flyers

As a season unfolds and the stretch run approaches, there are games we’ll all look back upon as the playoffs near. 

Then there was Thursday’s game in Philly, which will be remembered only for the single point the Edmonton Oilers reaped in a stultifying, 2-1 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. 

OK — perhaps it will be recalled for the performance by a pair of Edmonton and area goalies. Sherwood Park’s Carter Hart stopped 34 shots through 65 minutes, while Edmonton native Stuart Skinner was heroic, stopping 35. 

“He's a fantastic goalie,” Skinner said of Hart, “and I’ve been able to work with him a bit and become good friends. It's always fun playing against him, but it kind of pisses me off that he beat me.” 

Skinner was laughing when he said that, and to be honest, the Oilers had to smile at grabbing a point in a game largely dominated by the Flyers. Or, if not dominated, at least dictated, as the two teams played tight, defensive hockey that was high on turnovers but low on excitement.

It was exactly the style of game that Flyers head coach John Tortorella would have drawn up between his Flyers — the 27th best offence in hockey — and the NHL’s highest scoring team. 

“There are some positives to be taken out of that game,” head coach Jay Woodcroft said. “I thought our penalty kill was good again (three-for-three). Our goalie gave us a chance to win, and I think any time you hold the team to one goal (in regulation) that's a real positive. 

“The better we can play defensively the more chances we'll have to win.” 

Last game, in a 5-2 win at Detroit, it was Jack Campbell out-duelling Ville Husso. On Thursday, Skinner had the tougher night of the two ‘tenders, and only allowed one shot to elude him, a deflection off of Tyson Barrie’s stick. 

Edmonton is a team that knows it will score five goals on enough occasions to be a playoff contender. But Edmonton becomes that much more dangerous when it has the goaltending to accrue points on nights where they only score once. 

Skinner made a miraculous blocker save on Noah Cates, who found himself alone in the slot with 49 seconds to play in a 1-1 game. Moments earlier, a Darnell Nurse shot block saved the night. 

“(Skinner) is the reason we got a point tonight,” said defenceman Brett Kulak, whose quiet, efficient game might just be changing the minds of those he think/thought the Oilers need a left-shot defenceman at the deadline. “Good goalies do that, if the team is not there. He showed up for us and he made a number of really big saves on guaranteed goals. 

“Hats off to him. He got us the point tonight.” 

In the end, with each of Calgary, Seattle and Colorado losing in regulation, it was a good night for the Oil. Only Vegas (66 points) collected two points on a busy night, jumping three points up on Edmonton, Seattle and Los Angeles, all tied with 63 points in the crowded Pacific. 

“I thought we definitely did enough to win,” Skinner said. “We just fell short in the shoot out. I mean, it's tough to win a shootout when I'm letting in two. That’s something for me to work on.” 

Yeah, not quite. 

Any goalie who holds the opponent to one in regulation (and overtime), should walk out of the arena with a ‘W’. But on this night, the Oilers were firing blanks.  

Here’s a stat: Only Vancouver (7.25 combined goals per game) and Buffalo (7.08) have averaged higher scoring games this season than the 6.96 goals per game in the average Oilers tilt. So this one, tied 1-1 after 65 minutes, was well out of character for Edmonton. 

Zach Hyman had the go-ahead goal called back in the third period, when Warren Foegele’s contact with Hart was deemed excessive enough to cancel Hyman’s 27^th goal and 300^th career point. 

“Sometimes you get those calls, sometimes you don't,” shrugged Woodcroft. “I thought it was a goal, but I'm not the one that makes that decision.” 

So Edmonton moves into the back half of this four-game road trip having collected three of four points thus far, with afternoon tilts set for Saturday in Ottawa and Super Bowl Sunday in Montreal. They carry a record of 9-1-2 in their past dozen road games into Ottawa. 

Connor McDavid, who assisted on Evander Kane’s goal, has a 14-game points streak intact. Meanwhile the team is on an 8-0-2 run in its last 10, with points in 12 of its last 13 games. 

Small picture, you’d like to take two points out of Philly, a city the NHL playoffs will not visit this spring. 

Big picture, the Oilers are rolling along nicely, grabbing points in games where they are not even near their level best. 

“We feel something building here,” Kulak said. “Tonight was a different style, and it probably wasn't our best play — we know that. 

“But we're going to get back to work at practice.”