The Game: 1:00 PM, NBCSP, ESPN+, 97.5 The Fanatic
We’re back in action for the first time after this 4 Nations break has finally wrapped up, and while this presents a more or less clean slate, all things aren’t exactly equal here as the Flyers and Oilers get set to square off. On the Flyers’ side, they’re coming off of a big win over the Penguins on the other side of the break — certainly one that was meaningful as far as the rivalry is concerned — but they’re still sitting in the last position in the Metro standings, and just second from the bottom in the whole of the East. They’ve already begun selling off some pieces, and it’s grown even clearer that the rebuild is on and they’re committing to it. Which means that as far as how things are going down on the ice for this stretch run… they might be getting a little ugly. But hopefully not that ugly. We’ll see in time.
On the flip side, the Oilers, while they slid into the break with a loss to the Avalanche, are in a much more favorable position in the big picture. That is, they’re currently sitting at the top of the standings in the Pacific, and second in the West, nearly a perfect inverse of the Flyers. Now, in a game like this after a long layoff and with everyone needing to get themselves back up to speed, truly anything can happen, but on paper at least this is a pretty lopsided matchup, and one the Flyers have to be ready to weather right from the jump.
Storylines To Watch
Jakob Pelletier’s debut
We’re seeing a bit of resolution manifesting in this lineup, and no bigger piece is that of Pelletier finally, finally seeing his visa troubles resolved and becoming available to make his Flyers debut. We’re not exactly keeping high expectations for Pelletier in this one — there’s a reasonable expectation for everyone to be shaking off a bit of rust in this one, but none more so than Pelletier, who hasn’t seen any playing time since the trade went through all the way back on January 30. But, all the same, it will be nice to see him able to at least get rolling, and beginning his introduction process to his new organization and the fanbase. We’ll see what he can do off the hop, and where things go from there.
Returns to action?
The other side of the break has also brought even more good news, as the Flyers announced yesterday that all of Owen Tippett, Ryan Poehling, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Egor Zamula are good to go and will be available to return to the lineup this afternoon. And while the lineups aren’t confirmed just yet — early game, no morning skate, all that jazz — given the compliment of players that they have at their disposal right now, one imagines that we’ll see all of them moved back into the lineup as soon as possible. And this presents a new and interesting alignment for the Flyers — that is, we’ll see how they look and line up while having a full healthy lineup to work with for the first time in around a month, and a preview of how things might look for them for the rest of the season. We’re keeping expectations reasonable, but the slightly new era is starting now, all the same.
Making a statement
As we mentioned at the top, this is not looking like it’s going to be a kind matchup for the Flyers. The Oilers are bringing in their high-powered offense, and the Flyers — struggling both with scoring on their own side as well as some sporadic breakdowns of defense — are going to have their work cut out for them in trying to contain all that the Oilers will look to throw at them. But, at the same time, the theme of this game really is keeping manageable expectations, and in that spirit, we’re not exactly holding our breath that they come out and dominate this game, but the hope is that they can at least make it completive. It’s the same old issue of momentum, and the hope is that they can get the ball rolling here in at least a reasonably positive way.
The Lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Kuzmenko – Laughton – Konecny
Foerster – Cates – Brink
Tippett – Poehling – Michkov
Pelletier – Couturier – Hathaway
York – Sanheim
Seeler – Drysdale
Zamula – Ristolainene
Ersson
(Fedotov)
Edmonton Oilers
Nugent-Hopkins – McDavid – Hyman
Savoie – Draisaitl – Podkolzin
Skinner – Janmark – Perry
Arvidsson – Henrique – Brown
Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Klingberg
Kulak – Emberson
Skinner
(Pickard)
