Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers (8-5-2) host Kris Knoblauch’s Edmonton Oilers (7-6-4) on Military Appreciation night presented by Toyota.
The Flyers have had three nights off since sustaining a 3-2 overtime home loss to Ottawa on Saturday. The Oilers bounced back from a 9-1 home blowout loss to Colorado on Saturday with a 5-4 home overtime win against Columbus on Monday.
Game time at Xfinity Mobile Arena is 7:30 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch on Wednesday evening.
1. Cates line reunion?
Tyson Foerster (lower body injury) is close to being ready to exit IR and return to the Flyers’ lineup. At Tuesday’s practice at Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, Foerster was back together with regular linemates Noah Cates and Bobby Brink. He also took regular power play reps.
Foerster’s availability is a game day decision for Tuesday. According to Tocchet, it depends on how the player feels in the morning and whether a couple solo skates and just one full practice is sufficient to return.
2. Contain McDavid and Draisaitl
The two-time defending Western Conference champion Oilers boast two elite players in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The key to defeating Edmonton starts with keeping either (or both) superstar forwards from lighting up the scoreboard. It’s all about containment.
So far in his career, Cates in particular has done a good job at defending McDavid in head-to-head matchups. The combination of Cates and team captain Sean Couturier — along with the defense pairing of Cam York and Travis Sanheim — will have to do the heaviest lifting against McDavid and Draisaitl.
3. Make the Oilers defend
Tocchet noted on Tuesday that he’s seen progress over the last week in Flyers’ players attacking the middle of the ice and getting traffic to the net for screens, rebounds and deflections. Overall, the team has passed up too many open shots this season and gone through significant stretches where shot and chance creation have lacked in quantity and quality.
Against the Oilers, it’s a must to force the team to spend more time defending than attacking. They’ve also been prone to turnovers and vulnerable to couterattacks in transition. Edmonton’s team 3.47 goals against average ranks 28th in the NHL. If the Flyers play the right way, they’ll get their scoring chances.
It goes without saying that what Philly does with those chances is vital: The Oilers remain very opportunistic. The Flyers must be, too.
