Flyers-Oilers: Game 52 Preview

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Edmonton Oilers	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	51	15	38	53	Connor McDavid	49	29	44	73
Jake Voracek	51	11	31	42	Leon Draisaitl	50	27	34	61
Sean Couturier	49	19	22	41	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	50	16	30	46
Travis Konecny	51	13	16	29	Alex Chiasson	41	17	7	24
Wayne Simmonds	51	15	8	23	Darnell Nurse	50	6	18	24

 

Player to Watch
23 Oskar Lindblom	97 Connor McDavid
Last 5 Games: 3 G, 2 A, 5 P, +5	Last 5 Games: 2 G, 4 A, 6 P, -5

 

Oskar Lindblom snapped a 29-game goalless drought against Boston on Jan. 16. Since then, he has goals in three of the last five games. His game-tying goal on the power play on Thursday came at a huge spot. His role has increased recently and he's playing so well in the dirty areas, that the numbers are going to start coming around soon too.

 

Whenever you mention the Oilers, you don't get much farther without saying Connor McDavid's name. McDavid is tied for third in the NHL with 73 points. His lethal combination of speed and skill make him a truly special player that can turn a game around at any moment.

 

Goalie Matchup
79 Carter Hart	33 Cam Talbot
14 GP, 8-5-1, 2.48 GAA, .922 SV%	27 GP, 9-13-2, 3.27 GAA, .894 SV%

Carter Hart gets the start again for the seventh time in eight games. Hart has won five straight starts, becoming just the 10th different goalie to win five straight starts before his 21st birthday in NHL history. The last to do it was a goalie that Hart has drawn some comparisons to, Carey Price.

Cam Talbot went from being Edmonton's No. 1 to the backup with the emergence of Mikko Koskinen. He will get the start against the Flyers on Saturday, though, his first since being pulled in Carolina on Jan. 20, allowing three goals on 15 shots in the first 11 minutes of the game. Talbot has just two wins since Dec. 7, one of them a 39-save shutout of Anaheim on Jan. 6.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Michal Neuvirth, Brian Elliott, Corban Knight

Scratches: Christian Folin, Jori Lehtera

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
25 James van Riemsdyk	28 Claude Giroux	11 Travis Konecny
23 Oskar Lindblom	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
21 Scott Laughton	19 Nolan Patrick	17 Wayne Simmonds
44 Phil Varone	24 Mikhail Vorobyev	12 Michael Raffl
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	6 Travis Sanheim
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	47 Andrew MacDonald
8 Robert Hagg	3 Radko Gudas
Goalie
79 Carter Hart

Lineup Notes

Originally, it was expected Shayne Gostisbehere would miss Saturday's game, but after a solid practice on Friday, he slots back into the lineup. Christian Folin comes out. 

Oilers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Oscar Klefbom, Andrej Sekera

Scratches: Brad Malone, Alex Petrovic

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
27 Milan Lucic	97 Connor McDavid	8 Ty Rattie
22 Tobias Rieder	29 Leon Draisaitl	39 Alex Chiasson
16 Jujhar Khaira	93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	44 Zack Kassian
12 Colby Cave	28 Kyle Brodziak	98 Jesse Puljujarvi
Defense
25 Darnell Nurse	6 Adam Larsson
4 Kris Russell	83 Matt Benning
26 Brandon Manning	5 Kevin Gravel
Goalie
33 Cam Talbot

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (29th, 22nd at home), Oilers (T-13th, 8th on road)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (T-28th, 25th at home), Oilers (25th, 29th on road) 
• Recent History vs. Oilers
  • Oct. 21, 2017 – Flyers 2, Oilers 1 (at PHI)
  • Dec. 6, 2017 – Flyers 4, Oilers 2 (at EDM)
  • Dec. 14, 2018 – Oilers 4, Flyers 1 (at EDM)
• Flyers Leaders vs. Oilers
  • Claude Giroux – 14 GP, 6 G, 10 A, 16 P
  • Jake Voracek – 23 GP, 4 G, 18 A, 22 P
  • James van Riemsdyk – 13 GP, 5 G, 4 A, 9 P
  • Wayne Simmonds – 23 GP, 7 G, 8 A, 15 P
• Milestone Watch
  • Radko Gudas needs two points to reach 100 for his career.

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic