Michael Raffl Scores Late, Flyers Beat Oilers 6-5 For 7th Straight Win

Michael Raffl scored with 1:29 left in the third period to carry the Philadelphia Flyers to a 6-5 home win over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, their seventh consecutive victory.

Michael Raffl Scores Late, Flyers Beat Oilers 6-5 For 7th Straight Win

The forward took a cross-ice pass from Jakub Voracek, skated around Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom to reach the net and beat goalie Jonas Gustavsson for the game-winner.

“[Voracek] has been hard on me to use that play for three years now,” Raffl said. “First time it worked. … I just put a little fake in there and got around [Klefbom] and chipped it up high.”

Voracek had a goal and three assists, Claude Giroux had two goals and an assist, and Mark Streit and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare also scored for the Flyers (16-10-3). Steve Mason made 28 saves for Philadelphia and has now improved to 11-8-3.

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists, Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist, and Andrej Sekera, Benoit Pouliot and Klefbom also scored for the Oilers (14-11-4), who have lost leads in four straight games. Gustavsson stopped 25 shots.

McDavid leads the NHL with 38 points.

The Flyers trailed 5-3 after Klefbom scored at 5:12 of the third.

Voracek scored on the power play at 6:31 to make it 5-4, and then Philadelphia tied it 5-5 on GIroux’s second goal of the game, at 12:11. Defenseman Radko Gudas got the rebound of his shot behind Edmonton’s net and passed to Giroux in the slot.

“We stuck with it,” Voracek said. “We came back from 2-0 [in the second period], we got down two goals in the third again. Power play wasn’t very good, but it came up big when it needed to. The fourth goal was big to get us back in the game. We stuck with it and won the game.”

Voracek also scored the game-winner of Tuesday’s home win against the Florida Panthers in the final seconds of overtime.

Draisaitl opened scoring for Edmonton at 4:39 of the first with his 12th goal of the season, fifth in the past five games.

The Oilers gained a 2-0 lead on McDavid’s first power-play goal of the season, at 4:35 of the second period. However, Streit, Bellemare and Giroux scored in a 1:12 span to put the Flyers up 3-2.

Then, the Oilers tied it on Sekera’s shorthanded goal with 3:45 remaining in the second. McDavid’s assist on the goal was his first NHL shorthanded point.

Pouliot put the Oilers ahead 4-3 at 3:07 of the third with his fifth goal.

The Oilers have an NHL-high 53 goals on the road.

The last time the Flyers won seven straight was Dec. 2-15, 2011.

The Oilers next visit the Minnesota Wild on Friday, while the Flyers will host the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

GLENDALE, AZ – OCTOBER 15: Michael Raffl #12 of the Philadelphia Flyers in action during the NHL game against Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on October 15, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. The Coyotes defeated the Flyers 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Article by Pablo Mena