It was Mission Improbable.
The Flyers were trying to skate into Edmonton and knock off the Pacific Division-leading Oilers on Saturday afternoon.
Coming off a listless loss at Calgary on Wednesday night, the Flyers somehow found their second wind.
They raced off to an early 3-0 lead in the first period at Rogers Place, then hung on for a 5-2 win, completing a 3-2 road trip.
The victory was marked by rookie Denver Barkey’s first NHL goal to lead off the game’s scoring.
Goaltender Dan Vladar recorded his 15th victory of the season and that eclipses his former season high of 14, set with Calgary back in the 2022-23 season.
The Flyers have the best record in the NHL this season after a loss. Percentage-wise, their 13-1-5 mark is well ahead of second place Colorado (6-1-2).
“Throughout the year we don’t want to back off,” coach Rick Tocchet said in a televised postgame interview. “At times we did and we let them back in the game but I think for the most part the group stuck together and played the right way.”
After running up a 3-1 lead in the first period, the Flyers were basically in defense mode in the second.
Edmonton did use its NHL top-ranked power play to score the only goal of the period.
Evan Bouchard took advantage of a careless high stick penalty by Matvei Michkov to score at 9:54. Vladar had no chance on Bouchard’s cannon blast to make it 3-2.
The Flyers did have one power play of their own but that unit, which has dropped to 30th in NHL rankings, could not produce any serious scoring chances.
In a televised second period intermission, defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen said the Flyers had to get back to their first period approach to counter the Oilers in the third.
“Obviously we have to play good defense,” he said. “We also have to play with the puck and play in their zone. It’s not their strength. That’s what we did in the first period and then just keep going.”
The first period was highlighted by the Barkey goal.
Sean Couturier began the scoring sequence with a nifty pass to Owen Tippett. The right wing spotted Barkey coming down the slot and he made no mistake against Pickard at 7:16.
Barkey was all smiles during a televised first intermission interview.
“Pretty surreal,” Barkey said. “You look forward to that your whole life, to score your first. To get it was obviously a relief but a really cool feeling.”
Barkey has played with confidence since he joined the Flyers from Lehigh Valley last month. So it was nice to get some reward for his inspired play.
“I’m feeling good,” he said. “Every game you get more comfortable. Teammates, coaching staff all have done a great job making me feel at home and comfortable in the room. So it’s been really fun, just trying to take it day by day.”
The lead quickly became 2-0 at 10:31. Travis Sanheim intercepted a pass, shot from the right dot and beat Pickard short side.
Then Bobby Brink increased the lead to three goals at 14:38. Brink broke to the net and watched Cam York’s shot from the slot bank off his left heel and into the net.
The only mistake came at 16:08. Sanheim attempted an ill-advised pass from the left point. Connor McDavid stepped up, got an assist from a teammate, broke away clean and lifted the puck beyond Vladar’s reach.
Aside from that, Couturier and his linemates did a good job containing McDavid.
“It’s always a task,” Tocchet said. “Connor, you know, is impossible to check. He’s going to get his chances. Limit him the best you can. ‘Coots’ was good for us.”
In the third, the Flyers played even better defense and got some insurance when Nick Seeler scored his first goal in just over a calendar year with a point shot at 9:09. Tippett added an empty-net goal near the finish.
>Big night for Vladar
Vladar played one of his best games of the season keeping the Oilers from gaining any traction on offense.
“It was a tough thing thinking we could go into the game playing up and down hockey,” Vladar said. “I felt like everybody played responsible hockey. I think the guys did a real good job in front of me.”
>Short shots
The Flyers head home and will have Sunday off before resuming practice on Monday at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, N.J. They reach the halfway point of their season on Tuesday when they take on the Anaheim Ducks at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
After getting scratched for Wednesday night’s game at Calgary, Emil Andrae returned to the Flyers’ lineup and was paired with Jamie Drysdale. Sanheim and York were reunited and Ristolainen and Seeler played together.
Also, Garnet Hathaway returned to the lineup after sitting for a couple weeks. He took out some frustration on Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse in a first period fight.
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