The Philadelphia Flyers are a hurting club. Even though Philly broke their 10 game losing skid with a 5-2 win over Calgary on Monday night this club has one win in their past 11 games and the seat is beyond scorching under the backside of head coach Dave Hakstol. With a record of 9-11-7 the winds of change could be blowing for this club.
For the Oilers, they return home after a dramatic 7-5 win this past weekend in Calgary in a game that saw their 6-1 lead almost totally evaporate in the third period. Laurent Brossoit is absolutely going to have to bounce back in net with a strong game after the debacle at the Saddledome.
Keys To The Game
Edmonton:
May sound silly that I have to say it out loud but: for all that is holy – escape the first 4-6 minutes without giving up the first goal of the night.
Philadelphia:
Neutralize #97 and #29; last time these teams met up in Philly the only scoring came from Patrick Maroon in a 2-1 win over the Orange and Blue.
Players To Watch
Edmonton:
Since being recalled from Bakersfield he’s been a joy to watch and now coming off a multi point game, I’m hoping we once again see some jump out of Jesse Puljujarvi who now has four goals in 10 contests this season with the big club.
Philadelphia:
He helped seal things for the Flyers in Calgary and has burned the Oilers already this season, Wayne Simmonds is someone that I’ll be keeping an eye on tonight. The man known as Wayne Train has found a home on the Flyers first line and at times has proven to be even more dangerous than Claude Giroux at times.
Projected Lines
Edmonton Oilers:
Milan Lucic – Connor McDavid – Jesse Puljujarvi
Patrick Maroon – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Anton Slepyshev
Drake Caggiula – Leon Draisaitl – Ryan Strome
Jujhar Khaira – Mark Letestu – Zack Kassian
Darnell Nurse – Kris Russell
Oscar Klefbom – Matt Benning
Yohann Auvitu – Eric Gryba
Laurent Brossoit
Philadelphia Flyers
Claude Giroux – Sean Couturier – Wayne Simmonds
Michael Raffl – Valtteri Filppula – Jake Voracek
Dale Weise – Nolan Patrick – Travis Konecny
Taylor Leier – Scott Laughton – Jordan Weal
Ivan Provorov – Andrew MacDonald
Shayne Gostisbehere – Robert Hägg
Travis Sanheim – TJ Brennan
Brian Elliott
Prediction:
In a battle of two teams desperate for a win I think both clubs come out flying early but the home side takes this 4-1 on the strength of two goals from McDavid, one from Klefbom and the other from Mike Camamalleri.
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