Flyers-Oilers Preview: Golden Boy

The Flyers return to action following the break for the 4 Nations Face-off with two players having received gold medals with Team Canada. But Canada's new golden boy is on the other side of their first matchup out of the break.

Connor McDavid, who scored the overtime winner in Thursday's 4 Nations championship game, and the Edmonton Oilers open up the final 25 games of the regular season for the Flyers on Saturday afternoon.

Game time is 1 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Edmonton Oilers	GP	G	A	P
Travis Konecny	57	22	39	61	Leon Draisaitl	55	40	43	83
Matvei Michkov	55	16	20	36	Connor McDavid	49	22	49	71
Owen Tippett	52	14	16	30	Evan Bouchard	55	9	35	44
Travis Sanheim	57	6	21	27	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	54	15	20	35
Scott Laughton	54	11	15	26	Zach Hyman	50	19	13	32

Travis Sanheim returns from 4 Nations with a gold medal and three successful games in the lineup, picking up one assist along the way. Prior to the break, Sanheim had points in three straight games.

Thursday night's hero, Connor McDavid, looks to take some of the overtime magic from 4 Nations into the start of the second half of the season. McDavid has points in eight of his last 10 games, scoring six goals and adding seven assists.

Sam Ersson is expected to get the start for the Flyers. Ersson made 31 saves on 33 shots in his last start against Pittsburgh on Feb. 8. He also made 32 saves on 33 shots in a win for Team Sweden over Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-off on Monday.

Stuart Skinner gets the start for the Oilers. Skinner allowed three goals on 12 shots in his last start on Feb. 7 against Colorado before being pulled after the first period. He has won two of his last six starts.

Projected Lineups

Flyers Scratches: Erik Johnson (healthy), Nic Deslauriers (healthy), Aleksei Kolosov (healthy)

Oilers Scratches: Evander Kane (injury), Alec Regula (injury), Troy Stecher (healthy), Kasperi Kapanen (healthy)

Lineup Notes

Flyers: The Flyers are expected to get several players back from injury. Ryan Poehling missed 11 games, Egor Zamula missed eight games, Owen Tippett missed five games, and Rasmus Ristolainen missed three. All four are available to play on Saturday. Jakob Pelletier is also expected to make his Flyers debut.
Oilers: Matt Savoie will make his NHL debut. No other changes are expected to the lineup.

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (15.8% - 28th), Oilers (25.0% - 6th)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (78.5% - 18th), Oilers (75.6% - 23th)
Recent History vs. Oilers
- Oct. 15, 2024 - Oilers 4, Flyers 3 (F/OT) (at PIT)
Team Leaders vs. Oilers
- Matvei Michkov - 1 GP, 2 G, 0 A, 2 P
- Owen Tippett - 6 GP, 2 G, 4 A, 6 P
- Andrei Kuzmenko - 9 GP, 3 G, 4 A, 7 P
- Sam Ersson - 1 GP, 0-0-1, 3.94 GAA, .871 SV%
Milestone Watch
- Sean Couturier needs one goal to reach 200 for his career.