When the Edmonton Oilers visit the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday, the winner might be the team that gets off to a quicker start.
Both teams have found themselves needing to overcome slow first periods that force them to play from behind late. That, of course, is a slippery slope, as the Edmonton and Philadelphia players and coaches know all too well.
In the Oilers’ most recent game, they trailed the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0 in the first period, 3-1 after two periods and 4-2 with less than seven minutes left in regulation. Two goals from Connor McDavid and a late short-handed tally by Jake Walman helped Edmonton tie the score before Jack Roslovic won it on a breakaway in overtime.
“The group likes to put itself in a tough spot and just when you think it’s a tough spot, we go a little bit further,” McDavid said. “Then we decide it’s time to go. We stuck with it. We put ourselves in a tough spot, but we’re good at coming from behind. We found a way. It’s not the prettiest way to win a game, but a win nonetheless and we move on.”
The Oilers had lost their previous three games — including a 9-1 pounding at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche. They are looking to win back-to-back contests for the first time since Oct. 21-23, and they may have found the winning recipe late in the matchup with Columbus.
“That’s probably the exact type of game it was going to take to get out of this little funk, or at least to start,” Walman said. “It wasn’t perfect at all, but we found a way and stuck with it. There was a lot to like in that game.”
As if Edmonton needs additional obstacles at the moment, the team also begins a seven-game road trip Wednesday.
Philadelphia, meanwhile, wraps up a quick two-game homestand that began with a 3-2 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators.
The Flyers fell behind 2-0 early in the first before scrambling to force overtime on goals by Matvei Michkov and Jamie Drysdale. The hosts fell short in the extra session, but the focus in the locker room was on the team’s start instead of the finish.
“This is two games now that the other team comes out stronger than us and out-battles us and makes it hard on us to come back,” said Philadelphia captain Sean Couturier. “But as much as it could’ve been a frustrating day, we didn’t give them a whole lot after the first. It was still a big point.”
Dan Vladar likely will get the start in net for the Flyers, who have lost their last three home games after starting the season by winning six of their first seven on home ice.
“I’ve got to do a better job of getting the team ready,” said Flyers coach Rick Tocchet, “because we’re chasing after that (slow start). … That’s hard to do against anybody, and Ottawa’s a good team.”
Philadelphia and Edmonton have split their two-game season series in each of the previous four seasons.
The Cleveland Browns are in the midst of having a terrible season and have not seen rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders on the field this season, despite having miserable quarterback play this season. With coach Kevin Stefanski expected to be on the hot seat this season, there are some people questioning his decision-making under center. Let’s take a deeper dive into the comments and what it means for the team.
While on a recent episode of ‘Speakeasy‘, former Super Bowl champion James Jones made it clear that without Kevin Stefanski making a switch at the quarterback position, he will be fired.
“Put Shedeur Sanders out there. You keep on putting Dillon Gabriel out there and the offense does the same exact thing every single week. Nothing changes, he has one good quarter a week and he has two good throws a game. … If Shedeur goes out there, and he balls out and he plays lights out, you might not get fired in a couple of weeks. If you keep on throwing Dillon Gabriel out there, you’re going to get fired.”
The Browns have been one of the worst offensive teams in the National Football League as they are 29th in passing yards per game (168.1), 26th in rushing yards per game (97.1), and 29th in scoring (16.2). They have lost five of their previous six games and are on a two-game losing streak.
We have not seen Shedeur Sanders get any in-game action since the preseason and he has been firmly placed as the backup quarterback since the Browns traded away Joe Flacco. Should Kevin Stefanski make the switch to Sanders going forward?