The Edmonton Oilers will open a seven-game road trip with the same lineup that secured a comeback overtime victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets when they face the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night. Zach Hyman remains sidelined, but the team aims to build on recent momentum at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Edmonton enters the matchup in Philadelphia after rallying from behind on Monday to defeat the Blue Jackets 5-4 in overtime. Head coach Kris Knoblauch praised the defensive improvements and late-game resilience but emphasized the need for better puck execution to create more scoring chances.
"There were a lot of positives," Knoblauch said pre-game. "One, I thought our defensive play was a lot better. I thought we gave up fewer chances, which was the focus going into the game. I liked that we dug in with some late goals to tie it up in the third period and obviously won in overtime, but a lot of there are things to improve on, and a lot of it is just execution with the puck so we can move up the ice better collectively for some more scoring chances."
Winger Zach Hyman will miss the game due to injury but could return as early as Thursday's back-to-back matchup against the Blue Jackets in Columbus or by Saturday's visit to the Carolina Hurricanes. The top line features Matt Savoie alongside Connor McDavid and newcomer Andrew Mangiapane, a trio looking to build chemistry in the building where Savoie recorded an assist in his Oilers debut last season during a 6-3 loss.
"It's a good line, right?" Mangiapane said. "Obviously, for myself, I'm coming in here being a new guy and all that, so still kind of trying to read off those guys. Davo is a special player, and I think Savvy is a smart young guy, skilled and everything like that. So we have the makings to be a good line, and we gotta keep building chemistry and keep reading off each other and continue to grow."
The Flyers hold a strong 6-1-0 home record against Edmonton since the 2016-17 season, though the teams have split their season series in each of the last four years. Philadelphia enters on a 7-3-1 run in its last 11 games under head coach Rick Tocchet, led by Trevor Zegras with 16 points (4 goals, 12 assists) in 15 appearances.
"They're a good team," Mangiapane added. "They got a lot of skilled guys out there, and they're playing well right now, so I think we've got to build off our last game and how we played in that third period and just keep rolling. It's time we put together a little run here. It's a long road trip and this is the first game, so we want to start on the right foot here."
Stuart Skinner will start in net for the Oilers, with Calvin Pickard expected to follow in the second game of the back-to-back. The projected lineup is:
Forwards: Savoie - McDavid - Mangiapane; Podkolzin - Draisaitl - Roslovic; Howard - Henrique - Frederic; Janmark - Philp - Lazar
Defense: Ekholm - Bouchard; Nurse - Walman; Kulak - Emberson
Goalies: Skinner (starting), Pickard