The weary Flyers will be happy to finally come home.
And happy to not see Connor McDavid again the rest of the regular season.
The best player on the planet put on a dazzling show Tuesday night, sending the Flyers back to Philadelphia with a 5-2 loss.
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McDavid factored into all five of Edmonton's goals, dissecting John Tortorella's club with a marker and four assists.
The Flyers (19-13-5) have dropped consecutive games in regulation for the first time since Nov. 22-24.
Following the NHL-mandated holiday break, the Flyers went 1-2-1 on their four-game road swing. They played in Detroit before the break and reconvened in Vancouver, British Columbia to open this trip.
While also battling illness in their locker room, the Flyers started to wear down as the travel picked up and then ran into a red-hot Edmonton team led by the sport's top superstar.
NHL
Call it a perfect storm.
The Oilers (19-15-1) have won six straight games and 14 of their last 17.
The Flyers split their two-game regular-season series with Edmonton. They beat the Oilers in October, 4-1, at the Wells Fargo Center.
• This game had alarms coming into it.
It looked like a bad spot for the Flyers and turned out to be one.
Tortorella's club has now lost five of its last six games (1-3-2).
As we noted after the team's loss on New Year's Eve, this is a gut check for the Flyers. They let losing streaks spiral out of control over the past two seasons. If they want to keep surprising this season, they'll have to nip this in the bud.
Returning home, the Flyers will try to recharge, regain some of their mojo and prevent a fourth straight loss, which would mark a season-worst skid. We'll see if they can further prove themselves.
• Whenever the Flyers visit Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, McDavid does serious damage.
The three-time MVP has put up 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in eight career home games against the Flyers.
He was a total force Tuesday night.
His goal gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead at first intermission. He then padded the advantage with a no-look pass to Zach Hyman in the second period.
The Flyers showed resolve by erasing the deficit with goals from Travis Konecny and Marc Staal in the middle stanza.
But Edmonton's power play answered before second intermission.
In the third period, McDavid made two more beautiful passes to set up goals and put the game away.
Against McDavid in Philadelphia, the Flyers are 5-2-0 lifetime and have held him in check (nine points).
But he has been a nightmare for them on his home ice.
McDavid ran away with the Hart Trophy race last season. He won the NHL MVP honor for the third time by leading the league in goals (64), assists (89) and, of course, points (153).
• Carter Hart kept the Flyers in the game through the first two periods.
He finished with 31 saves on 36 shots.
Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner stopped 35 of the Flyers' 37 shots.
The Flyers went 0 for 4 on the power play and committed four penalties. Not a good recipe.
• Joel Farabee assisted both of the Flyers' goals and owns points in nine of the last 12 games.
He has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) over that stretch and got a look on the Flyers' top line Tuesday night.
The 23-year-old winger has had a mature and productive response to the in-game benching at the end of November.
• Nicolas Deslauriers was not in the lineup for the first time this season as Tortorella rolled with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
Staal's goal was the defenseman's first as a Flyer.
• The Flyers play their first home game in two weeks Thursday when they host the Blue Jackets (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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