Flyers-Oilers: Game 30 Preview

Kevin Durso

December 14 2018

(Photo: Kate Frese)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

After the way the Flyers dropped Wednesday's game in Calgary, it couldn't possibly get any worse, right? The Flyers will try to right the ship, but things could certainly get worse before they get better.

This is a game of two teams going in opposite directions. The Edmonton Oilers got off to a slow start, fired their coach and have surged back into a playoff spot with an 8-2-2 record under new coach Ken Hitchcock. The Flyers, meanwhile, are 1-1-1 on a five-game road trip with very little, if any, progress made since the firing of GM Ron Hextall.

Game time is at 9 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Edmonton Oilers	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	29	11	27	38	Connor McDavid	31	17	28	45
Jake Voracek	29	8	16	24	Leon Draisaitl	32	16	23	39
Sean Couturier	27	12	11	23	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	32	10	20	30
Travis Konecny	29	9	10	19	Alex Chiasson	26	13	4	17
Wayne Simmonds	29	10	4	14	Darnell Nurse	32	5	7	12

Player to Watch
28 Claude Giroux	97 Connor McDavid
Last 5 Games: 3 G, 6 A, 9 P, +5	Last 5 Games: 3 G, 7 A, 10 P, +4

Claude Giroux continues to lead the Flyers in points and still manages to produce on a nightly basis. It hasn't translated to success for the team, but Giroux is one of the few players with consistent production. As the captain, he'll need to have a central role in bringing the Flyers back to the win column.

Connor McDavid should be able to feast on a team like the Flyers with his transitional speed. McDavid had scored in three straight games before Thursday's loss in Winnipeg. Look for him to use his speed to his advantage in this game.

Goalie Matchup
41 Anthony Stolarz	19 Mikko Koskinen
7 GP, 2-1-2, 3.80 GAA, .889 SV%	15 GP, 10-3-1, 2.20 GAA, .927 SV%

Anthony Stolarz may have allowed six goals in Wednesday's loss, but he was on his way to a solid victory before the Flyers total collapse in the final two minutes. Stolarz still made 35 saves in the defeat, a new career high for him.

Mikko Koskinen has essentially taken over the starting job for the Oilers with a very successful season to date. He has wins in 10 of his 15 games this season and a 2.20 GAA while posting three shutouts.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Brian Elliott, Corban Knight

Scratches: Jori Lehtera, Jordan Weal, Christian Folin, Michal Neuvirth

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
25 James van Riemsdyk	28 Claude Giroux	11 Travis Konecny
12 Michael Raffl	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
21 Scott Laughton	19 Nolan Patrick	17 Wayne Simmonds
23 Oskar Lindblom	44 Phil Varone	22 Dale Weise
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	53 Shayne Gostisbehere
8 Robert Hagg	47 Andrew MacDonald
6 Travis Sanheim	3 Radko Gudas
Goalie
41 Anthony Stolarz

Lineup Notes

The Flyers will use the same lineup as Wednesday's game in Calgary.

Oilers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Oskar Klefbom, Kris Russell, Andrej Sekera

Scratches: Ty Rattie, Valentin Zykov, Caleb Jones

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
39 Alex Chiasson	97 Connor McDavid	29 Leon Draisaitl
16 Jujhar Khaira	93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	98 Jesse Puljujarvi
27 Milan Lucic	28 Kyle Brodziak	44 Zack Kassian
91 Drake Caggiula	23 Ryan Spooner	22 Tobias Rieder
Defense
25 Darnell Nurse	6 Adam Larsson
5 Kevin Gravel	83 Matt Benning
13 Jason Garrison	10 Chris Wideman
Goalie
19 Mikko Koskinen

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (T-27th, 24th on road), Oilers (15th, 20th at home)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (31st, 28th on road), Oilers (23rd, 13th at home)
Recent History vs. Oilers
- Oct. 21, 2017 – Flyers 2, Oilers 1 (at PHI)
- Dec. 6, 2017 – Flyers 4, Oilers 2 (at EDM)
Milestone Watch
- Wayne Simmonds needs three goals to reach 200 as a Flyer.