Flyers at Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are on pace to end their 10-year playoff drought, but they still have a division title in their sights. Edmonton continues its quest for first place in the Pacific when it wraps up a three-game homestand Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Oilers, who have not qualified for the postseason since reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2006, drew within two points of Anaheim for second in the Pacific and five of division-leading San Jose with Tuesday's 5-2 triumph over Arizona. Leon Draisaitl scored a goal and set up two others while captain Connor McDavid notched two assists to raise his league-leading point total to 63. Philadelphia's offensive struggles continued Wednesday as it kicked off its three-game trek through Western Canada with a 3-1 loss at Calgary. The Flyers, who remained two points behind Toronto for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, have scored a total of four goals over their last five games (1-3-1) and have not recorded more than three tallies since a 5-4 shootout victory over Vancouver on Jan. 12.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, Sportsnet West (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE FLYERS (27-23-7): Wednesday's loss halted Philadelphia's seven-game winning streak against Canadian teams and dropped the team to 0-5-2 on its Western Canada road trip during the last two-plus seasons. The Flyers have not won on the trek since 2013-14, when it recorded a three-game sweep. Jakub Voracek, who leads the team with 47 points, is in the midst of an eight-game goal-scoring drought and has tallied just once in his last 17 contests.
ABOUT THE OILERS (30-19-8): Draisaitl halted his four-game drought with his three-point performance against the Coyotes while Patrick Maroon scored in his second straight contests following a 10-game dry spell to hit the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his career. Mark Letestu drew within two of 100 NHL assists on Tuesday by setting up a goal by Matt Hendricks, who is two points shy of the century mark in his career. Iiro Pakarinen made his season debut against Arizona after suffering a knee injury during the preseason and recorded an assist.
OVERTIME
1. Oilers RW Jordan Eberle has not registered a point in his last eight contests while C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is mired in a seven-game drought.
2. Philadelphia RW Matt Read notched an assist Wednesday, leaving him three shy of 100 for his career.
3. Edmonton D Oscar Klefbom recorded a goal and two assists Tuesday to set a new career high of 23 points.