The Edmonton Oilers kick off the second half of their 2025-26 schedule today, as the Philadelphia Flyers touch down at Rogers Place for a little Saturday matinee. Oilers hockey in the daylight hours? Colour me cautiously excited.

Matinees and the Oilers have not been best friends this season, and the most recent example of getting ruined during the daylight hours is still nagging at me. That 5-2 loss in Minnesota on December 20th was flat, sloppy, a special teams mess, and over way too early. Needless to say, we needed more from the boys two weeks ago in that game, just like we’ll need more from them today. And yes, I know the Oilers have historically been fine in afternoon starts. Unfortunately for everyone reading this, my recency bias has the loudest voice in the room right now, and it is screaming, “Please figure it out.”

Still, this afternoon’s matchup against Philly is a good spot for the Oilers to grab the game by the throat and get things pointed back in the right direction. Edmonton comes into the afternoon at 20-15-6, sitting first in the Pacific Division, but it’s fair to say that the last three games since the Christmas break haven’t been their cleanest work. The Oil have lost two of three with loose details, and a whole lot too much chasing play, which is not what this group looked like through most of December. If anything, this feels like a “let’s snap back into it” kind of game. Home ice, afternoon crowd, no excuses. Time to pick it up here, boys.

From a matchup standpoint, the numbers suggest these two points should be there for the taking if Edmonton brings the right version of itself. At even strength, the Oilers are right around break-even but slightly ahead in both Corsi and expected goals, while Philadelphia sits just below 50 percent in both categories. Edmonton also generates more offence, averaging 3.34 goals per game compared to the Flyers’ 3.05, and they put more pucks on net. The problem? Philly has given up 24 fewer goals this year despite playing two fewer games. They may not score as much, but they don’t give up as much either.

Then there’s Connor McDavid, who somehow continues to make the insane feel normal. He’s looking to extend his point streak to 15 games after putting up a mind blowing 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points. Thirty four points in 14 games is video game stuff. He’s a Game Genie, and it will take every ounce of defending Philly has in them if they’re going to slow No. 97 down. And then there’s special teams, which is where this can swing fast. The Oilers’ power play is humming along at 33.3 percent, while the Flyers’ is stuck at 15.9. If this game turns into a parade to the box, Edmonton should have the advantage.

In goal, Calvin Pickard is back between the pipes for his first start since that outrageous performance in Winnipeg, where he flat-out stole two points and bailed the Oilers out from start to finish. If not for Pickard standing on his head on Monday, we’d probably be staring at a three-game losing streak right now, and that’s not nothing. This is a big chance for him to build off that effort, especially against a Flyers team that will probably want some revenge after losing the first meeting of the season series back in November. Hopefully, Pickard doesn’t need to steal another one, but he does need to be sharp and give the Oilers a chance to settle in.

This one just feels important. Afternoon start. Home ice. A chance to clean up the post-break messiness and get back to playing like the team we watched before Christmas. The Oilers don’t need to be perfect, but they do need to be better, and an afternoon game in front of a home crowd is a great spot to show it. Handle your business, lean into the advantage of being at Rogers Place, and remind everyone that December wasn’t a fluke.

Let’s see what the numbers say…

THE NUMBERS

	OILERS	FLYERS
RECORD	20-15-6	20-12-7
WIN/LOSS STREAK	L1	L1
LAST 10 GAMES	6-4-0	4-3-3
GOALS FOR	137	119
GOALS AGAINST	138	114
POWER PLAY%	33.3	15.9
PENALTY KILL%	79.0	81.8
GOALS FOR/GAME	3.34	3.05
GOALS AGAINST/GAME	3.37	2.92
AVG. SHOTS/FOR	28.7	25.9
AVG. SHOTS/AGAINST	27.4	25.8
TEAM SAVE%	.889	.901
CORSI FOR%	50.01	48.12
PDO	0.978	1.004
TEAM SHOOTING%	8.89	10.30
EXPECTED GOALS FOR%	50.08	49.80

Numbers courtesy of Natural Stat Trick (Sv%, CF%, PDO, Shooting%, xGF% all at 5×5)

The Oilers and Flyers meet for the second and final time on Saturday afternoon. The Oilers picked up a 2-1 overtime win in the first meeting of the season between these two clubs back on November 12th in Philadelphia. Evan Bouchard had the Oilers’ lone goal in regulation, while Jack Roslovic tallied the OT winner. Edmonton has earned at least a point in six of their last eight games against the Flyers, going 5-2-1 in that span.
Adam Henrique leads all active Oilers in career games played versus Philly (38), while Connor McDavid leads all active Oilers in career points (34).
Leon Draisaitl has 25 points (10G, 15A) in his last 17 games against the Flyers. His linemate for the day, Andrew Mangiapane, has nine points (3G, 6A) in his last eight games.

LINEUPS…

Oilers

Nugent-Hopkins – McDavid – Hyman
Mangiapane – Draisaitl – Roslovic
Howard – Savoie – Hutson
Janmark – Henrique – Frederic

Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Regula
Stastney – Emberson

Pickard

With Vasily Podkolzin sick and questionable for today’s game, it looks like Andrew Mangiapane will get his slot on the second line. The other notable item is that Kris Knoblauch is setting up a kid line with Howard, Savoie, and Hutson. With Howard and Hutson lighting it up with the Condors, it was only a matter of time before they’d earn another look. Personally, I’m excited to see what these three can do together, but I am nervous about Knoblauch only playing them for six minutes or something.

Flyers

Zegras – Dvorak – Konecny
Barkey – Couturier – Tippett
Michkov – Cates – Brink
Grundström – Ābols – Hathaway

York – Sanheim
Andrae – Drysdale
Seeler – Ristolainen

Vladar

If I’m being honest with everyone reading this, I expected the Flyers to be horrible this year. It’s not that they don’t have some fun players — they absolutely do — but I expected them to be toiling away near the mushy middle a little bit more than they were through the first half.