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Flyers come out shooting, but mostly blanks in lopsided loss in Edmonton

The Flyers dominated the action, outshot Calgary by a 52-22 margin -- and lost in blowout fashion Wednesday, 6-3. Bizarre.

The Flyers' Carter Hart and Edmonton's' James Neal (18) watch the puck go into the net during the host Oilers' 6-3 win Wednesday, ruining the goalie's homecoming.
The Flyers' Carter Hart and Edmonton's' James Neal (18) watch the puck go into the net during the host Oilers' 6-3 win Wednesday, ruining the goalie's homecoming.Read moreJASON FRANSON / AP

EDMONTON, Alberta — The Flyers dominated the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, but lost convincingly at Rogers Place.

Edmonton won, 6-3, but it wasn’t that close. The Flyers scored a pair of late garbage-time goals to make the final score deceiving.

The Flyers (2-2-1) lost despite controlling the play and holding a 52-22 shots domination.

They lost because every time Edmonton (6-1-0) had a scoring chance, it seemed to convert it into a goal. Conversely, the Flyers couldn’t finish their golden opportunities -- and they had plenty of them.

“I thought for the most part, we played a real solid game," coach Alain Vigneault said. "... Their big guys found a way to put the puck in the back of the net. We had some great looks; the right guys had the looks, and their goaltender (Mikko Koskinen) was the difference-maker in the game. He played exceptionally well.”

Koskinen made 49 stops, including nine on James van Riemsdyk and eight on Sean Couturier.

Down the other end, Carter Hart struggled and was removed in the second period after allowing four goals on 14 shots. It was a homecoming for Hart, who grew up in suburban Edmonton.

Hart, 21, had dozens of friends and family members in the crowd. He was playing his first NHL game in Edmonton.

“Coming home for the first time, for sure there’s nerves, but at the end of the day, you still have a job to do and you have to stop pucks,” Hart said. “I didn’t stop pucks and didn’t do my job. I didn’t give my team a chance to win.”

Added Hart: “I thought we came out really hard. We put up 50 shots, so we came out hard for the whole game, but I didn’t do my job and it cost us.”

Connor McDavid equaled a personal-best with five points (goal, four assists) to lead the Oilers.

Jake Voracek, point less in his first four games, had two goals and an assist for the Flyers, who went 0-2-1 on their Western Canada trip. They host Dallas on Saturday.

Breakaways

The Flyers set a franchise record for shots in a third period (25). ... Robert Hagg had seven hits and Couturier won 85 percent of his faceoffs (11 of 13).