5 THINGS: Flyers @ Oilers

Wrapping up a four-game western road trip, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (23-25-10) are in Alberta on Tuesday night to take on Jay Woodcroft's Edmonton Oilers (30-19-8). Game time at Rogers Place is 9:00 p.m. ET.

GAME NOTES
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the second and final meeting between the teams this season, and the lone game in Edmonton. On February 9, the Flyers played one of their most structured and disciplined games of the season in ultimately coming away with a 2-1 (2-1) home win via shootout against the Oilers.
Kevin Hayes and Evander Kane scored in regulation for their respective clubs, while Morgan Frost and James van Riemsdyk converted on shootout attempts. Carter Hart stopped 34 of 35 shots in regulation and OT before going 2-for-3 (stopping Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl) in the shootout. The Flyers stayed out of the penalty box the entire night, not giving Edmonton's lethal powerplay a chance to be a factor.
In the first period, the Flyers dictated the play from the outset. The second period was quite evenly played and the Oilers, after an evenly played first 12 minutes or so of the third period, made their biggest push in the latter portion of regulation.
The last time they met the Oilers, the Flyers were a rested team. This time around, the Flyers face much more adverse circumstances heading into the match. The Flyers are playing their third road game in four nights and the second game of a back-to-back set. On Monday afternoon, the Flyers gritted out a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Outstanding goaltending by Samuel Ersson (33 saves including a host of very tough stops), strong penalty killing and opportunistic offense led the way against Calgary. Philly never trailed in the game but had to withstand waves of attack, especially in the third period.
Travis Konecny (27th goal the season), Nicolas Deslauriers (3rd), Tony DeAngelo (10th) and Wade Allison (GWG, 8th) scored for the Flyers. Scott Laughton collected a pair of assists, and both Konecny (1g, 1a) and DeAngelo (1g, 1a) also had two-point games.
James van Riemsdyk and Noah Cates chipped in an assist apiece along with Cam York. Normally a player looked to for offense, Morgan Frost (three blocked shots including one that saved a potential goal, two uncredited takeaways, key late faceoff win after an icing) quietly had one of his best games from a defensive standpoint in 2022-23.
The win in Calgary came at a cost. Konecny sustained an upper-body injury in the second period on a hit by Calgary's MacKenzie Weegar and left the game. Additionally, Tortorella shortened his bench considerably as the game progressed. After Konecny went down, the Flyers went almost exclusively with nine forwards: Joel Farabee skated just 3:52 across five shifts for the entire game, while Olle Lycksell played 5:08 over seven shifts.
Monday's win snapped a four-game winless stretch for the Flyers (0-3-1). Meanwhile, the Oilers are 0-1-3 over their past four games and 4-1-5 in their last 10. Edmonton is still currently in the upper wildcard position in the Western Conference but their hold on a playoff with 25 games remaining could become shaky if they keep leaving points on the table. On the flip side, Edmonton has come away with at least one point in 14 of their last 15 games.
The Oilers had an off-day on Monday. Edmonton is coming off a 6-5 overtime road loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. Due to injuries, the Oilers were only able to dress 19 skaters. That was also the case in a 5-4 home shootout loss to the New York Rangers last Friday.
Here are 5 things to watch in tonight's game:
1. Mental challenge/physical challenge
Playing against the NHL's highest-scoring team is a daunting challenge even when your own club is rested and Edmonton is a potentially tired club at the end of a 3-in-4 or 4-in-6 stretch. The task becomes that much more difficult when the Oilers are the team with an on-paper "fatigue factor" edge heading into the game.
For the Flyers, Tuesday's contest fits every "gut-check game" cliché. Monday's game in Calgary was a grueling and physically punishing game in which the Flyers grinded out a victory with a short bench. If leading scorer Konecny (27 goals, 27 assists, 54 points in 52 games) is unavailable to play, the Flyers would either have go back to an 11-forwards/7-defensemen lineup or both Lycksell and Kieffer Bellows will dress for the game. While there is such a thing as a next-man-up mentality, the reality is that there's a steep dropoff if the Flyers need to substitute for Konecny in the lineup.
In terms of the keys to a Flyers' upset win in Edmonton, the same three factors that spurred Philly's home victory against the Oilers earlier this month apply to this game, too:
* Stay out of the penalty box. The Oilers rely very heavily on winning games via the NHL's No.1 ranked power play (62-for-198, 31.3 percent). At 5-on-5, Edmonton is still a threat (127 goals scored) but they also give up their share of goals (118 goals against, three more than the Flyers have allowed to date).
* Keep tight gaps when checking. In the last game against the Oilers, the Flyers did a masterful job for most of the night at taking away Edmonton's transition game and bottling up the middle of the ice when play was the Philadelphia defensive zone. Even then, there were times the Oilers broke through with their team speed and very high skill level. Overall, though, for the first 50 minutes of the game, the Flyers kept the Oilers from playing the type of game Edmonton prefers.
* Excellent goaltending is a must. Hart, a native of the Edmonton suburb of Sherwood Park, Alberta, had an oustanding performance in the Feb. 9 game. He'll need to match or better it tonight, and is capable of doing so if the team in front of him gives him a reasonable chance at making saves.
The Flyers' scoring difficulties have been well-documented this season, even with Konecny in the lineup. The Oilers are a team, however, that gives up its share of opposing scoring chances and goals (3.28 team GAA, ranked 21st) both at 5-on-5 on the penalty kill (30th-ranked home PK, 25th overall on the penalty kill at 74.6 percent).
Edmonton has improved defensively over the last couple years, but their forte is still more in line with being built to win a 4-3 or 6-2 type of game win than a 2-1 tight-checking grind. Edmonton still takes its share of risks with the puck and will gladly trade chances with an opponent that gets lured into a track meet type of game that the Oilers usually win.
Final note: The Oilers are very forward-dependent in their attack. They have defensemen who move the puck well and play commendably in helping turn defense to offense. Even so, with the exception of veteran Tyson Barrie (nine goals. 29 assists, 38 points), Edmonton doesn't rely as much as many other current-day NHL teams in getting goals via defensemen jumping into the attack.
2. The Sanheim Factor
Travis Sanheim had one of his best games of the 2022-23 season -- at least in the last two months -- in the Flyers' previous game against Edmonton. He was jumping into plays with confidence and using his mobility and stick effectively.
The performance raised hopes that Sanheim could use it as a springboard to get back to the form he showed in November of this season and for much of his Barry Ashbee Trophy winning 2021-22 campaign.
Unfortunately, Sanheim followed up the excellent game against the Oilers with several patchy performances. In Calgary -- where he played his junior hockey for the Western Hockey League's Hitmen and with family members in the stands to attend Monday's game -- Tortorella scratched Sanheim from the lineup against the Flames.
When he returns to the lineup, which could as soon as tonight's game in Edmonton, the Flyers will need Sanheim to play more games along the lines of his Feb. 9 performance.
3. The Farabee Factor
Joel Farabee (9g, 17a, 26 points) started out the 2023 calendar year seemingly on the brink of turning the corner on what has been a difficult campaign since undergoing offseason neck surgery.
From Jan. 2 to Jan. 14, Farabee seemed to be getting back on top of his two-way, forechecking and transition play games. He was rewarded with seven points (3g, 4a) in a six-game span with at least one point in five of the games.
Unfortunately, ever since then, the 22-year-old Farabee's struggles have returned. It's not just a statistical slump, it's a combination of looking physically weakened compared to his pre-injury self and dealing with his confidence being at one of the lowest ebbs in his still-young NHL career.
Starting with the Flyers' 6-0 blowout loss in Boston on MLK Day, Farabee has struggled again mightily. Statistically, he has just one point in his last 15 games (0g, 1a) and is 18 games removed from his last goal.
It's been Farabee's driest offensive spell since a 13-game drought (0g, 1a) back in his 2019-20 rookie season that overlapped with a wave of frustration that led to a three-game suspension for a reckless hit on Winnipeg's Mathieu Perrault on Dec. 15, 2019.
This season, Farabee, Cates, and Deslauriers are the only Flyers players to dress in all 58 games the club has played to date. However, after a few games in which Farabee had effective shifts here and there (including the Feb. 9 game against the Oilers), he's dipped again.
Over the last week or so, Tortorella has cut Farabee's ice time and dropped him to the lower end of the lineup including skipping him in line rotations.
The player skated just 13 shifts and 11:17 in a 2-1 overtime loss to Nashville on Feb. 11 despite some decent shifts and a nice assist on a Hayes breakaway goal set up by good neutral zone work by Farabee.
Farabee's usage increased in the Flyers' ugly back-to-back losses against Seattle (21 shifts and 15:59 TOI in the Feb. 12 game, 21 shifts and 15:28 TOI in Seattle on Feb. 16). However, in Vancouver, Farabee played just 10:21 over 14 shifts despite the Flyers dressing just 11 forwards. In Calgary, both before and after Konecny's injury, Farabee hardly saw the ice at all.
If Konecny were to be available in Edmonton, there's a possibility that Tortorella might scratch Farabee for the game. However, with his legs fresh following limited use the last two games -- and given Farabee's ongoing importance to the big picture for the Flyers both in the near-term and long-term perspective -- Farabee could instead see a renewed opportunity.
In either case, Farabee could really use something positive off which to build. A single goal might help him restore a dose of swagger to Farabee's game. That was the case with Konecny ending a 13-game goal drought in Seattle and also the case with Frost in the Vancouver game after ending a 10-game spell without a goal (the shootout goal on Feb. 9 doesn't count).
4. Flyers Line Play
If Konecny is unable to play in Edmonton, the Flyers may start with a lineup similar to the combinations it featured over the latter portion of Monday's game. If he's somehow able to play, the Flyers may go with mostly the forward combos that started Monday's game.
Without Konecny:
13 Kevin Hayes - 21 Scott Laughton - 57 Wade Allison
25 James van Riemsdyk - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 49 Noah Cates - 38 Patrick Brown
62 Olle Lycksell - 86 Joel Farabee - [20 Kieffer Bellows]
9 Ivan Provorov - 6 Travis Sanheim
45 Cam York - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 77 Tony DeAngelo
[61 Justin Braun]
79 Carter Hart
[33 Samuel Ersson]
With Konecny:
13 Kevin Hayes - 21 Scott Laughton - 74 Owen Tippett
25 James van Riemsdyk - 48 Morgan Frost - 11 Travis Konecny
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 49 Noah Cates - 38 Patrick Brown
62 Olle Lycksell - 86 Joel Farabee - 57 Wade Allison
9 Ivan Provorov - 6 Travis Sanheim/ 61 Justin Braun
45 Cam York - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 77 Tony DeAngelo
79 Carter Hart
[33 Samuel Ersson]
5. Behind Enemy Lines: Edmonton Oilers
In Sunday's game in Denver, goalie Jack Campbell was peppered with 42 shots. In a losing cause, he stopped 36 and was beaten on six others including Mikko Rantanen's game-winner at 4:38 of overtime. The Oilers had led by scores of 3-0 and 4-2 in the second period and then 5-3 in the third but had to settle for one point.
Warren Foegele scored Edmonton's first two goals (his 8th and 9th of the season) as the Oilers built a 2-0 lead. Draisaitl, whom the Flyers held without a shot on goal in the match in Philly, scored a second period goal (33rd goal, 82nd point) against Colorado to extend his goal-scoring streak to four consecutive games. Mattias Janmark had a goal (5th) and an assist. Edmonton superstar Connor McDavid set up Janmark's tally (60th assist, 102nd point in 57 games for McDavid) to establish a 5-3 lead that the Oilers were unable to protect. Defenseman Cody Ceci collected two assists.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who was arguably Edmonton's most effective shift-in and shift-out performer in the Feb. 9 game in Philadelphia, chipped in an assist (42nd assist, 69th point) against Colorado. Zach Hyman (40th assist, 67th point) also had a helper to extend his point streak to five games (1g, 6a). In the earlier game in Philadelphia, Hyman was stopped by Hart on a breakaway and later had a would-be go-ahead goal in the third period overturned for goaltender interference.
Only five times all season have opposing teams been able to hold McDavid off the scoresheet for the entire game. The Montreal Canadiens managed the feat on Feb. 12 (a 6-2 road loss for the Oilers) to end a 15-game point streak for McDavid.
Since then, he has five points (0g, 5a) over the team's last three games. With McDavid and Draisaitl alike but especially the former, the most realistic defensive objective is to contain the damage they do. McDavid has had 29 multi-point games this season including seven games where he finished with four points and one (1g, 4a against Seattle on Dec. 30) in which he racked up five points.
On the injury front, Evander Kane remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury that kept him out of the Colorado game. Forward Klim Kostin is also day-to-day.
In net, both Campbell and Stuart Skinner have appeared in 30 games this season. Campbell has posted the better won-loss record (17-8-4, 3.39 GAA, .887 save percentage) while Skinner (13-11-4, 2.95 GAA, .913 save percentage) has the better underlying stats.
37 Warren Foegele - 97 Connor McDavid - 13 Jesse Puljujärvi
18 Zach Hyman - 29 Leon Draisaitl - 56 Kailer Yamamoto
26 Mattias Janmark - 93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - 10 Derek Ryan
14 Devin Shore - 71 Ryan McLeod
25 Darnell Nurse - 5 Cody Ceci
27 Brett Kulak - 22 Tyson Barrie
86 Philip Broberg - 2 Evan Bouchard
36 Jack Campbell
74 Stuart Skinner