Oilers v. Flyers - Psalm 25:4-7

Show us your ways, O God,
and lead us on the path to the playoffs.
It is obvious that you alone can guide us to the goal,
that you alone can save us from this never-ending mess;
our hope is in you, O God, for every point, and for every win.

Remember, O God, the mercy and love
you showed us so many years ago.
Do not remember all the ways in which we've fallen away,
the times when we have turned from this team in shame
or cursed your name because of its failures.
Remember instead the love you have for this team,
and glorify your name in its victories.

Edmonton Oilers @ Philadelphia Flyers

Wells Fargo Center, 11:00 a.m. MST
Television: Sportsnet

Visiting Team Scouting Report: The Flyers are off to a very rough start this year, and (now that the coach has been fired) no one is feeling the heat more than Claude Giroux who has no goals, seven assists, and a -11 rating in 15 games. Put that alongside the new captain's eight-year $8.25M per season extension and you can imagine why things are a touch uglier for him than they are for, say, Nail Yakupov. And while Giroux is likely going to rebound, that probably won't be true of the Flyers overall. Scott Hartnell, Vincent Lecavalier (who leads the team in goals), and Mark Streit are all on the downside of their careers and are all signed for at least three more seasons with a cap hit of $4.5M or more. That's a huge chunk of the team's budget eaten up by aging players who very likely can't cover the bet.

Expected Lineups:

The Edmonton Oilers

Taylor Hall - Sam Gagner - Ales Hemsky
David Perron - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle
Jesse Joensuu - Boyd Gordon - Nail Yakupov
Ryan Smyth - Mark Arcobello - Luke Gazdic

Andrew Ference - Jeff Petry
Nick Schultz - Taylor Fedun
Anton Belov - Philip Larsen

Devan Dubnyk

The Philadelphia Flyers

Scott Hartnell - Claude Giroux - Vincent Lecavalier
Jakub Voracek - Brayden Schenn - Wayne Simmonds
Michael Raffl - Sean Couturier - Matt Read
Tye McGinn - Adam Hall - Zac Rinaldo

Kimmo Timonen - Luke Schenn
Nicklas Grossmann - Braydon Coburn
Mark Streit - Eric Gustafsson

Steve Mason

By The Numbers:

• With two goals in two games, Taylor Fedun has had a great start offensively. He played just 14:26 against the Lightning, but that's about three minutes more than he played against the Panthers (11:24). If he can establish himself in the NHL this year, that'll be an awfully impressive accomplishment given all of the competition the Oilers brought in for the bottom of their defense during the off-season.
• The Flyers have missed the playoffs just nine times in their 45-season history (this season would make it ten in forty-six, but they've got slightly more hope than the Oilers based on their division). The Oilers, on the other hand, have missed 14 times in 34 seasons (including this one). That means the Oilers have either missed the playoffs entirely or made it to at least the Conference Finals in 21 of their 34 seasons. Amazing.
• Taylor Hall returned to the lineup in Tampa Bay, and was quickly back to creating offense. He scored Edmonton's second goal of the game on one of his team-leading eight shots, playing a total of 22:03 per game. With 39 shots in 10 games so far this season, Hall's shots per game continues to climb. He was at 2.86 in his rookie year, and then added seasons of 3.39 and 3.42 before this season. At this rate, he'll be well over ten per game by the time he's 50.