5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Oilers

In the second game of their four-game homestand, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (21-22-9) will host Jay Woodcroft's Edmonton Oilers (29-18-4) on Thursday evening. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 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 first of two meetings this season between the inter-conference teams. The Flyers and Oilers will rematch at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Feb. 21.
The Flyers enter Thursday's game coming off a 2-1 home loss to the New York Islanders on Monday evening. Nicolas Deslauriers (3rd goal of the season) notched the lone Flyers' goal, shaving a 2-0 deficit in half in the second period. The Flyers were unable to find an equalizer the rest of the game. In a losing cause, Carter Hart stopped 28 of 30 shots.
Thursday's game is the start of a 3-in-4 stretch for the Flyers over the remainder of the homestand. The homestand concludes on Sunday afternoon.
The Oilers enter this game coming off a 5-2 road win against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. Jack Campbell denied 30 of 32 Detroit shots to earn the win. The Oilers received two goals from Warren Foegele (6th and 7th) and one from Ryan McLeod (9th) as they overcame a 1-0 deficit entering the second period. In the latter stages of the third period, a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins power play goal (23rd) and a long-distance shorthanded empty-netter by Evander Kane (7th) sealed the win.
Foegele (2g), Kane (1g, 1a), Nugent-Hopkins (1g, 1a) and Philip Broberg (2a) all finished with multi-point games on a night where Leon Draisaitl was held off the scoresheet and without a shot on goal. Connor McDavid was contained to a single assist (secondary helper on the Nugent-Hopkins goal) on the night. McDavid extended his point streak to 13 straight games.
Here are 5 things to watch in Thursday's game.
1. A different challenge
The Flyers knew to expect from their last opponent, the New York Islanders, that the game was probably going to be tight-checking with long stretches where scoring chances would be at a premium. The first period was lopsided in New York's favor and the Flyers' were fortunate to get out of the period trailing only 1-0. The final 40 minutes were rather evenly played but the Islanders came out on the winning end of the 2-1 score.
The Oilers present a different type of challenge from the Islanders. Edmonton is the NHL's highest-scoring team, averaging 3.76 goals per game. Over the team's last 28 games, dating back to the start of December, the Oilers have scored at a 4.04 goals per game pace. The second-best team offensively in that span is the Carolina Hurricanes (3.86 GPG).
It's an absolute must for the Flyers -- or any opponent -- to take care of the puck and defend well in the high-danger areas of the ice against Edmonton. The Flyers have trended in a positive direction in their two-way play over the last couple months but McDavid, Draisaitl and company can make opponents pay dearly for even the smallest lapses of detail.
The Flyers will need to draw the Oilers into playing the type of game the Tortorella prefers -- largely encapsulated by the second period of Monday's tilt against the Islanders. The Flyers need to establish their attack zone and neutral zone forechecking games and to win more 50-50 puck battles than they lose (the No. 1 issue in Philly's poor first period in that game). If they are able to do so successfully, the Flyers chances to win the game improve considerably.
The Oilers are not known for being a team that plays airtight defense. However, Edmonton has shown major improvement over the last two months. Since the start of December, the Oilers rank tied for 11th leaguewide with a 2.89 team GAA (the Flyers are 19th at 3.07).
Prior to that, the Oilers ranked near the bottom of the NHL in team GAA, posting a 3.57 team GAA (26th) for the months of October and November. In that span, Phily ranked 19th at a 3.22 GAA.
2. Situational Play
The Oilers still give up their share of goals at 5-on-5 but they score them at a rapid pace, too. Edmonton is plus-nine as a team when the game is at full strength, scoring 113 times against 104 goals yielded. The Flyers are minus-five. Philly has allowed 101 goals at 5-on-5 and allowed 96 opposition goals.
Not surprisingly, given the caliber of the personnel, the Oilers' power play is nothing short of lethal. Edmonton not only boasts the No. 1 overall power play in the NHL (57-for-179, 31.8 percent), they top the league on the road (31.3 percent) as well as on home ice (31.8 percent).
The Flyers' biggest challenge against the Oilers starts with this six-word missive: stay out of the penalty box!
The Flyers rank second in the NHL with nine shorthanded goals, and opponents have to be aware when the duo of Scott Laughton and Travis Konecny are on the ice for the PK. The Flyers' overall penalty killing has been strong since the latter half of December, pulling up from the bottom one-third of the league to a shade below the middile of the pack (77.1 percent, ranked 18th).
Nonetheless, it is a losing proposition to take penalties against the Oilers if they at all avoidable through legal means of checking. Offensive zone penalties, delay-of-game, and too many men penalties and careless stick infractions need to be avoided at all costs.
In terms of when the Flyers are on the power play, Philly has shown relatively brief surges of improvement this season but longer spells of utter frustration where gaining entry and getting set up is an uphill climb. The personnel has been shuffled around repeatedly this season.
The most recent incarnation has a veteran-heavy PP1 unit (Kevin Hayes, Scott Laughton, Travis Konecny, James van Riemsdyk and Tony DeAngelo) with a youth-heavy PP2 unit (Owen Tippet, Morgan Frost, Noah Cates, Joel Farabee and Cam York). Both units struggled in the Islanders game on Monday.
3. Konecny and Farabee
At the time Travis Konecny notched a hat trick against the Washington Capitals on January 11, he was on a 10-game point streak (10g, 10a, 20 points). He'd never had more than back-to-back games all season without a point and had only had two such stretches all year.
Since then, Konecny hit his first offensive drought of the season. He's pointless in his last five games. Konecny had a nifty puckhanding sequence in the first period of Monday's game but the Flyers were unable to make the next play (with a potential scoring chance at stake). The rest of the game was quiet for TK, who finished without a shot on goal for the first time since Dec. 22.
Overall, in his last 10 games, Konecny has posted three points (0g, 3a) and he's gone without a point in eight of the ten games. Getting TK scoring again after the All-Star break is one of the main keys to the Flyers getting back into an offensive groove as team.
The Flyers could also use an offensive rejuvenation from Joel Farabee. Since putting together sixt straight strong two-games in which he was also rewarded with six points (2g, 4a), Farabee has gone pointless in each of the last nine games.
Farabee started off the month of January looking like he was poised for a big second half. He was getting a lot of puck touches, playing well on both sides of the puck and creating both scoring chances and power play opportunities for the Flyers. Of late, though, there has been another dip in his play. Apart from a smattering of "near-miss" plays, Farabee has been generally a non-factor.
4. Flyers line play
The Flyers had a full practice on Wednesday and an optional morning skate on Thursday.
The Flyers practiced with the same line combinations that started Monday's 2-1 home loss against the New York Islanders.
25 James van Riemsdyk - 49 Noah Cates - 11 Travis Konecny
13 Kevin Hayes - 21 Scott Laughton - 74 Owen Tippett
86 Joel Farabee - 48 Morgan Frost - 57 Wade Allison
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 38 Patrick Brown - 20 Kieffer Bellows
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York
6 Travis Sanheim - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 77 Tony DeAngelo
79 Carter Hart
[32 Felix Sandström]
Extra skater: 61 Justin Braun
5. Behind enemy lines: Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers rattled off an 8-2-2 record in January and started February off with the aforementioned win in Detroit. It's disheartening for an opponent to prevent Draisaitl from registering a shot on goal or a point via an assist and hold McDavid to a single secondary assist yet wind up giving up five goals to the Oilers, nonetheless.
Edmonton has four different forwards who check into Thursday's game averaging north of a point per point. McDavid, a perennial threat to win the Art Ross Trophy and/or Hart Trophy, has already racked up 93 points (41g, 52a) in 51 games. Draisaitl has 76 points (29g, 47a) in 49 games. Two-way forward Nugent-Hopkins has 62 points (23g, 49a). All three of these players have scored on north of 19 percent of their shots on goal. Meanwhile, pesky Zach Hyman has posted 26 goals and 60 points overall.
How dominant is McDavid? On power play points alone (16 PPG, 31 PPA), McDavid has 47 points this season. Flyers leading scorer Konecny has 49 points overall across all game situations.
From the back end, Tyson Barrie leads the Oilers defensemen with 35 points (7g, 28a). Darnell Nurse (6g, 19a, +16) logs the most ice time at an average 23:50 TOI, has blocked the most opposing shot attempts (95) and has credited with 85 hits.
As noted in the first point in today's preview, Thursday's game could have a different sort of style unless the Flyers are able to dictate the play and force the Oilers to play the game the way Philly wants it played.
The last opponent, the Islanders, are a grind-it-out, shot-blocking and physical team. The Oilers are largely a speed-and-quickness reliant group. Philly plays much more in the Islanders' type of style, blocking 17.22 shots per 60 minutes (2nd in the NHL) and doling out 28.33 credited hits per game (4th). Edmonton ranks 28th in blocked shots (13.00) and 19th in hits (22.94).
Edmonton has split its goaltending duties nearly equally this season. In 28 games, Stuart Skinner has posted a 13-10-3 record, 2.92 GAA and .914 save percentage. Campbell has appeared in 26 games, with a 16-8-1 record, 3.28 GAA, and .889 save percentage. Neither goalie has recorded a shutout to date this season.
On the injury front, Oscar Klefbom (shoulder), Mike Smith (undisclosed), Ryan Murray (undisclosed) and Kailer Yamamoto (undisclosed) are all on IR.
Projected lineup (based on last game, subject to change)
55 Dylan Holloway - 97 Connor McDavid - 10 Derek Ryan
91 Evander Kane - 29 Leon Draisaitl - 18 Zach Hyman'
21 Klim Kosti - 93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - 26 Mattias Janmark
73 Vincent Deharnais - 71 Ryan McLeod - 37 Warren Foegele
25 Darnell Nurse -5 Cody Ceci
27 Brett Kulak - 22 Tyson Barrie
86 Philip Broberg - 2 Evan Bouchard
36 Jack Campbell
74 Stuart Skinner