4 Takeaways From Oilers’ Embarrassing 6-3 Loss to Flyers

The Edmonton Oilers kicked off a five-game Eastern Conference road trip against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 22). This was an embarrassing effort from start to finish as the Oilers were defeated 6-3. The Flyers got goals from Matvei Michkov, Sean Couturier, Rasmus Ristolainen, Andrei Kuzmenko, and two from Owen Tippett. John Klingberg, Leon Draisaitl, and Mattias Ekholm lit the lamp for Edmonton. The Oilers had no urgency, and they were heavily outshot 32-18 while being outshot in every period. What’s even worse is they were down 5-3 heading into the third and only registered three shots in the final frame. They didn’t want it, and they got exactly what they deserved. Here are four takeaways from this abysmal defeat.

Matt Savoie Makes Oilers Debut

Let’s start with a positive. Matt Savoie made his Oilers debut, which was quite impressive. He’s fast and extremely quick on the forecheck. He was often the first player pressuring the Flyers’ defence below the goal line and his tenacity led to his first career NHL point. The rookie forward forced a turnover behind the net and found Draisaitl in the slot, who made no mistake. He finished the game with one assist, one shot, one hit and a plus-1 rating in 13:02 of ice time. He was one of only five players with a plus rating.

While he’s only 5-foot-9, the youngster isn’t afraid to go to the dirty areas and create opportunities for his teammates. That automatically makes him a perfect fit to pair with the German superstar, and we saw that chemistry develop throughout this contest. Yes, it was his first game, but it looks like Draisaitl finally found a legitimate winger to play with for years to come.

John Klingberg Continues to Improve

On another positive note, Klingberg had his best game as an Oiler in his sixth game. He recorded a pair of points, including his first goal with the team. He had a team-high plus-2 rating in 15:32 of ice time. His confidence is growing with each game, and his puck-moving abilities were on display in this one. He made some great stretch passes, especially in the first period that led to some offensive zone time, and he got rewarded.

While most of his teammates were on vacation, he stayed in Edmonton and practiced with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He’s missed a lot of hockey over the last few seasons due to hip surgery, so he decided to work on his game and get up to speed. If he continues to improve, management’s deadline priorities should shift to goaltending. While he’s not a top-four defenceman at this point in his career, he has the potential to help this team with his puck-moving ability. The emergence of Ty Emberson is also a reason finding a top-four defender isn’t as urgent as originally thought. He can slide into that role while moving Klingberg down if they can’t find a clear upgrade.

Turnovers Continue to Plague the Oilers

Edmonton looked like they were still on vacation as their puck management was atrocious. “What really cost us is the turnovers. We tried to make plays when there was not a play to be made. Four even-strength goals and all of them were the direct result of turnovers. We were not in a good position to defend,” coach Kris Knoblauch stated in his postgame presser.

Evan Bouchard was at the cornerstone of it all. He was a turnover machine, which directly led to a pair of Flyers goals. On their second goal, Bouchard fanned on a pass and failed to cover the man in the slot which led to an easy one-timer. As a result, he was benched for a large portion of the second period. Despite being benched, he still finished the game with 22:52 of ice time.