Oilers Gameday – Vs. Flyers

Edmonton ended their seven game home-stand with a 3-2 loss on Saturday night, and comes off their stand with a 4-3 record overall. Tonight, Edmonton heads out east to start a five game road trip in Philadelphia, for the first of two meetings between the sides. Philly and Edmonton both are off to starts that aren’t up to par, and each team badly needs a win here tonight.

The Flyers are very banged up, and will be without defenders Andrew MacDonald and Braydon Coburn, while Edmonton will be without forward Taylor Hall, who injured his knee on Saturday night. Defender Andrew Ference will also be missing, as he serves the first game of his three game suspension that he obtained on Saturday night for a hit to the head.

Viktor Fasth, who has missed significant time with a groin injury, will get the nod tonight, while the Flyers counter with Steve Mason, who has struggled with the starting job this season.

The Last Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers concluded a home-stand Saturday when they hosted the Vancouver Canucks. Edmonton came out flying, and dominated the Canucks in the early going. Jordan Eberle opened the scoring 12:39 in with a nifty back-hand shot, but Vancouver woke up and started to fight back. The Canucks broke through at the 19:13 mark as Luca Sbisa beat Scrivens.

The second period saw Edmonton lose top-dog Taylor Hall, who left the game after he was tripped up going to the net. The Canucks took over the game for a bit, and took a lead as Linden Vey snapped a shot past Scrivens down low at the 16:37 mark. The Oilers, down their best player, struck back just over a minute later as David Perron snapped home his first of the season.

The third period started out even, and Edmonton got a golden chance on the power-play to take a lead. The Oilers choked away their chance however, as Ben Scrivens misplayed a puck along the boards. Derek Dorsett picked up the puck, and beat Scrivens at the 4:05 mark. Ryan Miller shut the door from there, and sealed the Canucks’ 3-2 victory.

Philadelphia: The Flyers last played on Saturday, heading down south to battle the Florida Panthers. Florida came out and played a solid period, out-shooting the Flyers and clearly looking like the better team. The Panthers were rewarded at the 9:07 mark, as Willie Mitchell beat Steve Mason with a long shot.

The Flyers battled back a bit in the second period and fired ten shots on Roberto Luongo, but the outspoken veteran was there to stop everything. The Flyers turned up the heat again in the third, firing 18 shots on net. It just wasn’t enough however, as Philly took a terrible penalty late in the frame to set up the insurance.

Aaron Ekblad blasted home his first of his NHL career at the 15:38 mark to put things away. Vincent Lecavalier scored with eight seconds left to break the shut-out, but it was simply a stat-padding goal. Luongo stood stall, stopping seventeen shots in the final frame to seal the deal 2-1 over Florida.

The Last Meeting:

The Flyers and Oilers last met late in December in Edmonton, and both teams have changed quite a bit since then. The Oilers got going early, as Jordan Eberle scored 32 seconds in on one of the first shots of the game. The Oilers kept the pressure on, and added some insurance at the 4:02 mark as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins beat Steve Mason.

It was all Philly from that point however, as the pressure would be all over Ilya Bryzgalov. Wayne Simmonds would score two power-play goals just over nine minutes apart to tie the game in the second. David Perron scored on the power-play at the 11:52 mark of the third, but it was all Philly yet again after that.

Scott Hartnell scored a power-play goal to tie things up at 14:28, which would hold through 60 minutes. Overtime did nothing, and the sides went to a shootout, which would see the Flyers outscore Edmonton 2-1 to get the 4-3 victory and complete the sweep of the season series.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers will be in tough here to get a win. The Flyers have weak goaltending and a banged up defense, and must apply pressure on the Flyers. Their key to the game? Use their speed to attack Philadelphia’s banged up defensive unit. The Flyers struggle with skilled teams, and if Edmonton has one thing, it is skill.

Philadelphia: The Flyers are a lot like the Canucks in the sense that they are a physical team that can shut-down softer teams. Edmonton is one of those softer teams, and the Flyers could feast on that. Without Taylor Hall, the Oilers will be lacking that fire they usually have. Philly’s key is to be aggressive and physical, and knock Edmonton off their game.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has had a lot of success against the eastern conference in his career, and that must continue without Taylor Hall in the lineup. RNH is the guy that must step up in a big way and be that star for Edmonton. I think he will, and I’m expecting a big game from the Nuge. He’s Edmonton top gun, and will respond to the challenge.

Philadelphia: Oiler fans don’t see a lot of the Flyers, but know the name Claude Giroux quite well. Giroux is one of the best players in the NHL, and is an absolute offensive stud. Teams hate going against him for good reason, and I expect to see him prove why tonight. Edmonton has a weak defense, and this guy has torn the league up the last two seasons. I expect him to shine tonight.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Teddy Purcell – Mark Arcobello – David Perron

Matt Hendricks – Leon Draisaitl – Nail Yakupov

Will Acton – Boyd Gordon – Jesse Joensuu

Martin Marincin – Jeff Petry

Nikita Nikitin – Justin Schultz

Oscar Klefbom – Mark Fayne

Viktor Fasth

Philadelphia Flyers Lines:

Michael Raffl – Claude Giroux – Jakub Voracek

Brayden Schenn – Vincent Lecavalier – Wayne Simmonds

R.J. Umberger – Sean Couturier – Matt Read

Zac Rinaldo – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Chris VandeVelde

Nicklas Grossman – Mark Streit

Michael Del Zotto – Nick Schultz

Carlo Colaiacovo – Luke Schenn

Steve Mason