Hart makes 34 saves, Flyers defeat Oilers in shootout

PHILADELPHIA -- Carter Hart made 34 saves for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 2-1 shootout win against the Edmonton Oilers at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.

Hart did not allow a goal on two of three Oilers attempts in the tiebreaker, including one on Leon Draisaitl in the third round.
"He's been like that all year," Flyers forward Kevin Hayes said of Hart. "He's been the backbone of this team. He's an unbelievable goalie. We see it in practice every day. He just allows us to know that if there is a breakdown, we're not nervous or anything because we know he's back there."

Hayes scored in the first period, and Morgan Frost and James van Riemsdyk scored in the shootout for Philadelphia (22-22-9).
Connor McDavid extended his point streak to 14 games, and Stuart Skinner made 35 saves for Edmonton (29-18-5), which extended its point streak to 10 games (8-0-2).
McDavid, who had an assist, has the longest active point streak in the NHL (22 points; nine goals, 13 assists). He also has a 16-game road point streak (11 goals, 19 assists) dating to Nov. 26.
"I thought it was a highly contested game where every square inch of the ice was up for grabs and contested hard," Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. "I thought it was a hard game for both teams, and in the end we didn't come away with the extra point."

Hayes put the Flyers ahead 1-0 at 7:50 of the first period. Travis Sanheim broke out of the Philadelphia zone, crossed the Edmonton blue line and dropped a pass for Hayes, whose shot from the right face-off circle beat Skinner to the short side over his glove.

Evander Kane tied it 1-1 at 1:56 of the second period. McDavid entered the Flyers zone and dropped a pass on the left side for Kane, who beat Hart with a low shot to the glove side.
Kane has a goal in three straight games after not scoring in three. He missed 31 games with a wrist injury sustained from a skate cut Nov. 8.
"I thought Evander, along with 'Skins,' were our two best players tonight," Woodcroft said. "I thought they were ultra-competitive. Evander was physical, he shot the puck, he's playing the game the right way. He's getting up to speed. ... We anticipated it would take him time to get up and running, but I thought he played a whale of a game, and the better he can play the more dangerous a team we are."
Zach Hyman appeared to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead at 7:24 of the third period, but the goal was overturned after video review determined Oilers forward Warren Foegele impaired Hart's ability to play his position in the crease prior to the goal.
"I was pretty sure that it was going to be goalie interference," Hart said. "He drives the net, shoots the puck first and then his momentum runs into me and takes me out of the crease, so I think that's pretty obvious and was the right call."
Van Riemsdyk scored the winning goal in the third round of the shootout, beating Skinner past his blocker.
"Just coming down on that route, there's a few different things I'm kind of looking for," van Riemsdyk said. "Me and 'Hartsie' actually were doing shootouts yesterday, the first time I think I've done it the whole year to practice it. Thankfully we did that, and I felt pretty confident and comfortable going in."
Hart, who was born in the Edmonton suburb of Sherwood Park, Alberta, stopped Draisaitl in the third round to clinch the victory.
"Playing against my hometown [team], so I love playing against Edmonton," he said. "Those two guys (McDavid and Draisaitl) are some of the best guys, if not the best guys in the League, and they've got a lot of skill there up front. But I thought we really stuck to our game tonight and just grinded hard."
The Flyers did not commit a penalty; the Oilers entered the game with the No. 1 power play in the NHL at 31.8 percent.
"Their power play is lethal," Hayes said. "We said that before the game, stay out of the box, that's the best way to penalty kill. And I thought we did a great job with that tonight."
NOTES:Philadelphiawon its second game in 11 that has gone past regulation this season (2-9), and first in the shootout (1-1). ... Edmonton's point streak is its longest since a 10-game run (7-0-3) from Dec. 1-23, 2005. ... McDavid's road point streak is the longest for the Oilers since Wayne Gretzky set their record of 29 straight from Oct. 11, 1986, to Feb. 24, 1987.