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Sean Couturier, Scott Laughton help shut down Connor McDavid in Flyers' win

The Flyers raised their record to 5-3, primarily because they were able to shut down a scoring machine named Connor McDavid, who had a total of six points in two games against Philadelphia last season.

Oilers’ center Connor McDavid, left, and Flyers’ center Valtteri Filppula move to the loose puck during the second period.
Oilers’ center Connor McDavid, left, and Flyers’ center Valtteri Filppula move to the loose puck during the second period.Read moreTOM MIHALEK / AP

Not many NHL players have such a special talent that they draw all eyes toward them when they are on the ice, knowing a memorable "How did he do that?" moment might be seconds away.

Bobby Orr, Guy Lafleur, and Wayne Gretzky were like that. Ditto Eric Lindros — who did it with his power, not his grace — Mario Lemieux, and, more recently, players such as Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos, and Patrick Kane.

And, now, there is Connor McDavid, the now-you-see-him-now-you-don't Edmonton center who has two speeds: fast and faster.

"He's probably the best player in the world right now," Flyers right winger Wayne Simmonds said.

That's what made Saturday so special for the Flyers and an appreciative crowd at the Wells Fargo Center.

In an entertaining, tight-checking game that displayed more efficiency than sizzle, the Flyers outlasted the Oilers, 2-1, primarily because they were able to shut down McDavid.

They never gave McDavid much time and space, never allowed him to freewheel through center ice and into the offensive zone.

Playing mostly against lines centered by Sean Couturier and Scott Laughton, McDavid had no points, managed four shots, and won just 6 of 14 faceoffs.

"You just don't want him getting the puck in full flight," Simmonds said. "We just tried to keep him to the outside and tried to limit his touches where he's coming full speed through the middle of the ice, and I thought we did a great job on him."

"He only had a couple looks at the net,"  goalie Brian Elliott said after stopping 23 of 24 shots and improving his record to 4-1. "We stayed out of the [penalty] box most of the night, and that's what you have to do against those top-skilled guys."

Laughton called it a "really good group effort" against McDavid. Laughton's line got more assignments against McDavid in the first part of the game, but during crunch time in the third period, it was Couturier's unit that received the challenge. Defensemen Ivan Provorov and Andrew MacDonald, who had six blocks, also played major roles in stopping the league's reigning MVP.

"He's a special player. So quick and so dynamic," Laughton said of McDavid, who briefly missed some first-period action when a teammate's stick hit him in the face. "To be able to keep him off the score sheet is huge for our group. I thought we played a really good third period, getting on him and not letting him and their whole team get space and time, and Moose [Elliott] did a good job of backstopping us."

At times, Laughton and Couturier used their physicality to pester the 6-foot-1, 192-pound McDavid.

"I think you have to; there's no other way to play him," Laughton said. You have to play hard and limit his time. You can't let him get speed because if he does, he's gone."

Couturier said that if you give a player like McDavid some time to maneuver, he can "make you look pretty foolish."

Not only did Couturier's line, which includes Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek, limit McDavid's chances, but they had the puck in Edmonton's defensive zone for huge stretches.

"We controlled the play a lot," Couturier said. "That's the key. He can't really do much without the puck."

McDavid had a hat trick in Edmonton's opener against Calgary, but he is goalless in his last six games. Saturday marked just the second time he had failed to get a point in seven games.

It also marked the first time this season the Flyers had won without scoring three goals or more. Winning a tight-checking game brought a sense of satisfaction to the locker room.

"You had to battle for every inch out there," said Couturier, who won 9 of his 12 faceoffs. "It's those types of games you have to learn how to win and embrace them. Down the road, it just gets tighter and tighter, so these are the wins you need to find a way to get."

They found a way after a lackluster middle period.

"I didn't like our second period a lot," coach Dave Hakstol said, "but we kind of reset between the second and third, and I thought we went out and played a hard third … and did the little things necessary."

And a big thing: not allowing McDavid to get a shot in the final 20 minutes.