Roslovic comes up with second overtime goal in as many games for Edmonton Oilers

One down, six more to go.

The Edmonton Oilers opened a stretch of seven away games in 11 days with a 2-1 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday.

The win starts Oilers’ longest road trip in 12 years, which wasn’t a good omen for a team that disembarked with a 2-5-2 record on the road to start the season.

Make that 3-5-2, after Jack Roslovic scored his second overtime winner in as many games.

This one looked like it was over with 23.5 seconds to go in regulation, when Travis Konecny put the home crowd on their feet after redirecting a point shot past Stuart Skinner, only to have an official review determine Owen Tippett was offside.

The good news is the Oilers didn’t cough up another two-goal lead. Nor did they lose by an eight-goal margin. And nobody is talking about Skinner after this one, who was solid with 20 saves.

That’s four solid periods and two overtime sessions from the often embattled Oilers goaltender, which is exactly what the Oilers need as they take their first steps in what will be a challenging gauntlet through the Eastern Conference.

Close contests are nothing new to these two teams this year, with Edmonton 5-6 in one-goal games and Philadelphia now 4-6.

That gives Roslovic 10 points (five goals, five assists) in nine games, as the late addition continues to be the biggest bright spot on an Oilers roster featuring seven of 12 forwards who are new.

Matt Savoie assisted on both Oilers goals.

PRESSURE’S ON

As they’ve done all year, the Oilers (who lead the league with over 20 minutes of puck possession a game) controlled much of the course of play through the first 40 minutes, at one point outshooting the Flyers 8-0 over the final eight minutes of the first period on the way to a 1-0 lead in the dying seconds.

The shot domination continued through the first 15 minutes of the second period, as they took a shot 25-11 advantage into the final 20 minutes. But not before the Flyers tied it up on the power play, as Matvei Michkov scored his third goal in as many games to put things back on a level playing field on the scoreboard.

BOUCHARD’S BENCHING

Edmonton opened the scoring Wednesday with one of its patented transition efforts, as Connor McDavid sent it back to the blue line for a Bouch Bomb in the last minute of the first period, as the Oilers took over the back half of the period going 8-0 in shots.

It was Evan Bouchard’s first goal in five games, and just so happened to come on the heels of getting benched in Monday’s 5-4 overtime win on home ice against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Having the hot-and-cold Bouchard get up close and personal with some pine is exactly what the fan base in Edmonton has been pleading for since the giveaway bug bit into Bouchard early on in the season.

Only time will tell if the moment of reflection continues to keep Bouchard’s puck touches going into the proper net.

POINT STREAK

The assist pushed McDavid to a six-game point streak, as he came into the game tied for top five in league scoring.

He came in with 10 points in his previous five games (four goals, six assists), with a goal in each of the previous three games.

He had seven goals and 17 assists before adding an 18th Wednesday to tie for the league lead.

ROUGH STUFF

The bit of physicality the Oilers finally discovered and put on display on Monday also managed to find its way into their luggage in the first stop on the trip.

It began with Curtis Lazar driving hard to the net, splitting a pair of defenders while looking for a potential rebound, only to get shoved right into Dan Vladar, as the Flyers goaltender reached for the puck at the side of the net. And Trent Frederic plowed into his former teammate in Boston as well in the final five minutes, leading to no shortage of pushing and shoving.

But Philadelphia didn’t back down, and sent a shot over the Oilers’ bow in the second period, when Nick Seeler took a run at Connor McDavid along the boards. Instead of taking it on the chin and turning the other cheek, as has been the case all season long up until this week, the hit prompted the entire line of Oilers to step up to the red line in defence of their captain.

Could a typically timid Oilers team that came into the game sitting 32nd in hits, 29th in penalty minutes and with just a single, solitary fighting major to their credit finally have reached their limit when it comes to rolling over for the opposition?

But the target on the Oilers captain only grew, as the opening faceoff of the third period saw Noah Cates get sent to the box for putting his stick in McDavid’s mouth, and Garnett Hathaway gave him a nonchalant shoulder of a drive-by that sent him into the boards late in the game.

Of course, it always hurts less leaving the building with two points.

Up Next: The Oilers face the Columbus Blue Jackets in back-to-back action Thursday, in a rematch of Monday’s overtime win at home.

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge