GAME RECAP: Oilers 5, Flyers 2

EDMONTON, AB – 899 points, 900 points...

901 points, 902 points...

903 points.

Captain Connor McDavid surpassed the 900-career point mark in emphatic fashion on Tuesday, registering a goal and four assists for the Edmonton Oilers in a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at Rogers Place that stretched the Blue & Orange's win streak to six games in a row.

"It's another nice milestone," McDavid said. "It's kind of one that's along the way and a nice chance to reflect on some of the work we've done and feel good about that."

McDavid combined with his linemates to produce 11 points, with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins recording two goals and an assist – including the game-winner on the power play late in the middle frame – and Zach Hyman picking up his team-leading 22nd goal of the campaign and two helpers.

"We're just trying to build on the chemistry that we've built over the past few weeks here, and we're trying to be defensive first and kind of go from there," Nugent-Hopkins said. "It's nice to be able to click like that and watch them go in."

Leon Draisaitl added a goal and assist, while netminder Stuart Skinner earned the victory by stopping 35 of 37 shots.

Over their six-game win streak, the Oilers have outscored their opponents 29-12 to help improve their overall record to 19-15-1 and pull to within one point of the Arizona Coyotes for the final Wildcard spot in the Western Conference.

The Oilers look to keep their winning ways going by getting into a playoff spot on Saturday night with two points against the Ottawa Senators.

FIRST PERIOD

A terrific show of patience from McDavid on the opening goal and his 14th goal of the campaign pushed the captain onto the precipice of another major milestone. More on that particular detail later.

The contest began with another terrific opening shift from the red-hot line of Warren Foegele, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan McLeod that unfortunately ended with the Flyers getting gifted their first power-play of the evening.

Foegele took a neutral-zone pass and slipped the puck through the legs of Ryan Poehling for an open chance on netminder Carter Hart, but the Sherwood Park product closed the five-hole shut before Foegele's stick got stuck under the skate of Travis Sanheim to earn him an unlucky tripping penalty.

Both sides have not been particularly effective on the power play as of late, with the Flyers' efficiency with the man advantage falling to 2-for-35 (6.1 percent) over their last 13 games while the Oilers were 1-for-21 (4.8 percent) in their last eight contests after both teams went 0-for-2 in the opening 20 minutes.

The breakthrough in what looked like was going to be a scoreless opening period finally came in the final five minutes of the frame after McDavid wheeled up the ice on a two-on-two with Hyman.

The captain calmly cradled the puck with Sanheim standing him up in the slot before Hyman cut through the middle and caught a piece of the skate of the Flyers defenceman, leaving McDavid with the space he needed to fire his 14th goal of the season and record his 899th career point through Hart's five-hole at 4:05 of the first period.

While there might've been a fortunate touch from Hyman that helped McDavid come to within one point of his major milestone, there was nothing up for debate on when point No. 900 inevitably came for the captain in the middle frame.

SECOND PERIOD

No. 97 has never been one who waits for things to happen.

The 900th point of McDavid's career will go down as one of the better passes that he's ever made, and there's been plenty over his career. When he reached the 900-point mark in the middle frame, 584 of his 900 points had been assists, but he wasn't done there after increasing his career totals even higher with three more helpers later in the game.

"He does it all the time, so you never know what to expect," Hyman said. "So it's really fun playing with him and he just makes plays that nobody else can make. That's why he is who he is."

"For him, it's just another number," Hyman said. "He was happy we won knowing him, but on the outside, obviously he's a generational talent that's able to do that. Pretty special for the kind of era that he plays in. It's pretty unbelievable and pretty special to have the opportunity to play with him."

With three Flyers skaters being pulled towards him in the right corner, McDavid delivered the perfect no-look pass to Hyman, who took advantage of the space left behind by McDavid's magnetism and backhanded home his team-leading 22nd goal of the campaign at 11:48 of the middle frame.

"I knew he saw me, and then I just went there because I figured he's going to get it there somehow," Hyman said. "Obviously, he made an unbelievable play to get it there."

"Zach works tremendously hard," McDavid added. "The puck kind of came down the wall and I saw him go to the net and just tried to get it to him. I thought that was the best way to get it to him, and he puts on a great move and scores a big goal."

Philadelphia would have their biggest push of the contest in the nine minutes that followed Hyman's marker to keep Edmonton honest over the final 23 minutes of regulation, but this is a different and more composed team than earlier in the season.

"They're handling very well," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "It was a different situation when I came here. You look at the standings and there was a lot of frustration, and if we gave up those two goals in the second period the way we did, I'm sure we wouldn't have handled it the same as we would've two months ago."

Travis Konecny floated the Flyers' first of two goals in the second period over the left shoulder of Skinner after Joel Farabee flipped it over Mattias Ekholm to create a partial breakaway. With three minutes left in the frame, it was Konecny who set up Marc Staal for his first of the season on a wrist shot low glove on Skinner that tied the game at 2-2 – albeit only for a short time.

Edmonton's power play hadn't been firing on all cylinders in their previous eight games, but it's not always about how many you score. It's about when.

McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins worked a slick exchange on the man advantage late in the period to give Hyman an open look at the right post, but the puck fluttered over the winger's stick.

But only 10 seconds later, the trio had another shot and worked this one to perfection to provide Nugent-Hopkins his 10th tally of the year and lift the Oilers back into the lead before the second intermission hit.

THIRD PERIOD

The final frame is where the Oilers well and truly took off on the Flyers.

McDavid wasn't finished offensively, with the captain making a delicious dish on a delayed penalty to Leon Draisaitl just 1:27 into the third period for his third assist of the night that was locked in on the German's devastating one-timer at the top of the left circle that made it a two-goal lead for Edmonton.

The focus was fairly on Edmonton's second line today of Draisaitl, Foegele and McLeod today after they combined to produce 10 points in a 7-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, but tonight, it was the top-line show of Nugent-Hopkins, McDavid and Hyman.

The league's most in-form unit capped off the scoring at 8:41 of the final frame when McDavid produced his fifth point of the evening with a low pass under defenceman Sean Walker for Nugent-Hopkins to deposit behind Hart and complete the 5-2 victory.

PARTING WORDS

Hyman on his team's five-game winning streak after assembling eight straight victories earlier in November and December:

"It's hard to tell when you're going to go on an eight-game run or six-game run. Hockey is unpredictable at times. I think the key for our group is just to play with a level of consistency that gives us a chance every night, and I think Stu's been doing that and so has Picks. I think back there, it starts with goaltending and they've been phenomenal. Stu tonight, there were times in that game where were outplayed and he just shut the door and kept it tied. So that helps a ton."

"I think for us, it's just about laying the foundation to go and win every night, and we do that. We've had a lot of experience in the playoffs. We know what it takes to get there, and now we know what it takes to win. It starts every day building that sense of belief and trust and foundation of your game. So obviously, very happy that it's coming to fruition here."

Knoblauch on watching McDavid now after coaching him in the OHL with the Erie Otters:

"Yeah, it looked pretty easy for him. It was nice. He was flying and making unbelievable plays and he did all that tonight and I looked, I couldn't believe he only had 16-and-a-half minutes of ice time, but it was quite remarkable what he was doing and it never surprises me. I'm over that phase of him surprising me because he's done it so much, so you just enjoy it.