Photo: Steve Kuzma/Flyerdelphia
With the first three games of the homestand going as well as you could hope, the Flyers were bound to face some adversity sometime soon.
Thursday night, they faced plenty of it, too much to overcome.
The Oilers struck midway through the first and twice in short order in the second and rolled the rest of the way behind Cam Talbot to secure a 4-0 win over the Flyers on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The Oilers controlled much of the early play, showing speed and finesse while winning many of the puck battles from the start.
They were finally able to solve Michal Neuvirth at 11:20.
Connor McDavid got the puck and sped around Evgeny Medvedev to get a breakaway chance. He was stopped by the pad of Neuvirth, but the rebound was waiting there for Nail Yakupov and he buried it to give the Oilers the 1-0 lead.
The Oilers led in shots through 20 minutes, 14-6.
The Flyers came out with more energy in the second period and earned the majority of scoring chances in the period.
More energy did not equate to goals for the Flyers, and two costly shifts extended the lead for Edmonton.
Shayne Gostisbehere lost the puck at the Edmonton blue line trying to navigate around a defender and lost a race with Taylor Hall, who roared in on a breakaway and beat Neuvirth to give Edmonton a two-goal lead at 14:22.
Just 1:49 later, Patrick Maroon lifted a shot off the crossbar and picked up the loose puck before Neuvirth or the Flyers could find it to make it a 3-0 game through two periods.
Despite outshooting the Oilers, 16-9, in the second, the Flyers entered the third down by three.
The third period featured more bad blood between the two teams as several scrums broke out during the period.
With a four-minute power play, and really their last chance to find a way back into the game, the Oilers would strike for a shorthanded goal that iced the game. Off a turnover by Gostisbehere, Lauri Korpikoski beat Neuvirth with a one-timer off the feed from Mark Letestu to make it a four-goal game.
The Flyers were 0-for-6 on the power play during the game and also hit three posts. They outshot the Oilers for the game, 35-31.
For Talbot, it was his third career win against the Flyers. All of them have been shutouts.
The Flyers return to action on Saturday night when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7 p.m.
Scoring Summary
| 1st Period | |||
| EDM | Nail Yakupov (6) | Connor McDavid, Jordan Eberle | 11:20 |
| 2nd Period | |||
| EDM | Taylor Hall (21) | Unassisted | 14:22 |
| EDM | Patrick Maroon (5) | Adam Pardy, Brandon Davidson | 16:11 |
| 3rd Period | |||
| EDM | Lauri Korpikoski (7) SH | Mark Letestu | 11:59 |
Penalty Summary
| 1st Period | |||
| PHI | Nick Schultz | 2:00 Interference | 13:49 |
| EDM | Zack Kassian | 2:00 Hooking | 18:09 |
| 2nd Period | |||
| EDM | Adam Clendening | 2:00 Slashing | 6:08 |
| EDM | Anton Lander | 2:00 Holding | 9:24 |
| EDM | Darnell Nurse | 2:00 Tripping | 17:03 |
| 3rd Period | |||
| PHI | Wayne Simmonds | 4:00 Roughing | 7:16 |
| EDM | Patrick Maroon | 2:00 Roughing | 7:16 |
| EDM | Adam Pardy | 2:00 Roughing | 7:16 |
| EDM | Zack Kassian | 4:00 High-Sticking | 11:17 |
| EDM | Zack Kassian | 2:00 High-Sticking | 15:46 |
| EDM | Zack Kassian | 2:00 Roughing | 15:46 |
| EDM | Zack Kassian | 10:00 Misconduct | 15:46 |
| PHI | Radko Gudas | 2:00 Roughing | 15:46 |
| PHI | Radko Gudas | 10:00 Misconduct | 15:46 |
Game Statistics
| Oilers | Flyers | |
| Shots | 31 | 35 |
| Power Plays | 0/1 | 0/6 |
| Hits | 23 | 22 |
| Faceoff % | 32% | 68% |
| Giveaways | 5 | 10 |
| Takeaways | 7 | 3 |
| Blocked Shots | 28 | 12 |
| Penalty Minutes | 30 | 18 |
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
