Edmonton will have to take advantage of their offensive skill to earn their first win of the season.
Edmonton will have to take advantage of their offensive skill to earn their first win of the season.
It's no secret that the Oilers' season hasn't gone to plan thus far.
Entering the second week of the regular season with an 0-3 record and a -12 goal differential, this is a team that needs a win. Unfortunately, the Philadelphia Flyers are far from an easy matchup for the Oilers at this point in the year.
The Oilers have had a lot of issues this season, but one immediately noticeable problem is that they're getting outworked at both ends of the ice. Defenders have had trouble getting the puck out of their own zone, while forwards have been confined to the perimeter, unable to get to the middle of the ice.
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A date with a John Tortorella-coached team is not what you want if you want to reverse those trends. The Flyers might not have a lot of top-end skill, but you can bet they'll work hard on the forecheck, block shots, and punish attackers in front of their net.
That playstyle might cause teams to fade down the stretch at the end of the season, like the Flyers did last year, but it can cause real problems for opponents on October 15th. The Oilers will have to improve on their past three games to beat just about anyone, but they'll have to dig in extra hard to handle Torts' Flyers. If they can accomplish that, it'll be a sign that their disastrous start is -- hopefully -- behind them.
In other ways, this is a favourable matchup for the Oilers. Apart from the fact that they're heavy favourites (MoneyPuck gives them a 67.3% chance of winning tonight), they're in a solid position to take advantage of Philly's weaknesses.
Part of the reason the Flyers play such a hardworking, physical, defensive game is because they just don't have much in the way of finishing talent. Only three Flyers (Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett, and Joel Farabee) hit 50 points last season, with Konecny's 68 points the high-water mark.
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For an Edmonton goaltending duo that's had a, to be blunt, horrible start to the season, a matchup with a relatively punchless Flyers team could be the perfect opportunity to get back on track. Stuart Skinner and the Oilers will have to contend with the Russian wunderkind Matvei Michkov on top of the three players mentioned above, but they've shut down better offences before.
The best matchup for the Oilers, though, is their star-studded offence against the Flyers' porous goaltending. We don't know whether Samuel Ersson or Ivan Fedotov will get the start for Philly tonight, but neither is all that imposing.
Ersson posted an .890 save percentage in 51 games last season, collapsing down the stretch as the Flyers fell out of a playoff spot. Fedotov allowed ten goals in parts of three games last year, and allowed five goals on 31 shots against the Flames in his season debut on Saturday.
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They could be just the men to reverse the Oilers' putrid shooting luck. Connor McDavid, held goal-less through the first three games, should be licking his chops.
This game will come down to whether the Flyers bring the Oilers down into the muck with them and force them to play their style. If they can do that, a tired and frustrated Oilers team will only become more so. To win, Edmonton has to press their skill and puck possession advantage and strike early so Philadelphia doesn't get the chance to slow the game to a halt to protect a lead.
It's only the fourth game of the season, but the stakes are high for Edmonton. A loss, and they're 0-4 at home facing down road games against a similarly desperate Nashville squad and the powerhouse Dallas Stars. A win, and they can relax a little and start to dig out of their early hole.
Oilers-Flyers gets underway at 8:00PM MT at Rogers Place, and you can watch it on Sportsnet One.
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