Closing out their first west coast roadtrip, the Flyers traveled to Edmonton to face the Oilers in an exciting 5-2 win, seemingly making a swift recovery from New Year’s Eve’s 5-1 loss against the Flames. As Dan Vladar remarked in his post-game comments, Philadelphia simply “outgrinded” Edmonton, playing strong defense and generating vital chances for themselves.
Things kicked off in the first with an exciting milestone for our team’s future, as Denver Barkey scored his first NHL goal at 7:16. Despite his small size, Barkey holds his own and maintains possession of the puck exceptionally well, as seen in his 2-point NHL debut on December 20th. Sanheim went on to earn his first of 2 points of the afternoon and grow the Flyers’ lead to 2-0, as he took a rebound and sent it to the back of the net unassisted. Sanheim has had a potentially career-best season, already earning 19 points compared to 30 in the 2024-2025 season. He was recently honored with a spot on Team Canada’s Olympic roster.
Matvei Michkov continues to pick up speed on his sophomore season, earning his 5th assist in his last 7 games on Bobby Brink’s goal, deflected off his skate from Cam York’s initial shot. Connor McDavid closed the Flyers’ lead to 3-1 with a breakaway slapshot heading into the 2nd period.
After an offensively productive first period, the Flyers’ defense played a vital role in maintaining the advantage against a team of some of the league’s top scorers. Edmonton was only able to get 5 shots in the period, yet were able to close on a powerplay goal.
Despite only having a 1-goal lead midway through the second, Philadelphia regained their offensive momentum in the third, even though it came from a defenseman. Nick Seeler earned his first goal of the year and first point of the period with a wrist shot from behind the faceoff circle to regain the Flyers’ 2-goal lead. Owen Tippett earned an empty net goal late in the third to solidify the Flyers’ 5-2 win, with Nick Seeler earning his second point of the night with an assist.
Dan Vladar earned first star of the night honors with 23 saves on 25 shots, bringing his season average to a .910 SV%. Despite both Nick Seeler and Travis Sanheim earning 2 points on the night, Denver Barkey’s first goal earned him 3rd star honors, following Connor McDavid’s 2 points earning him second star honors.
This game was the grit and energy, both offensively and defensively, that was completely lacking against Calgary. Despite facing some of the best played in the league, the Flyers played consistently both ways and excelled. It’s become obvious that the Flyers are a playoff team, and a competitive one at that with performances like this.
Philly's Next Shift 