Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers (20-12-7) play their first game of the 2026 calendar year on Saturday afternoon in Alberta. The opponent: the two-time defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers (20-15-6).

Game time at Rogers Place is 3:30 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on NBCSP.

The Flyers enter this game coming off a 5-1 loss in Calgary on New Year’s Eve. Meanwhile, the Oilers suffered a 6-2 home defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins.

Saturday’s game is the second and final match of the season series between the Flyers and Oilers. Back on November 12, the Flyers had to settle for one point in a 2-1 overtime loss at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Jack Roslovic scored the winning goal in sudden death. Evan Bouchard and Matvei Michkov (PPG) scored for their respective clubs in regulation.

Here are the RAV4 Things to watch in Saturday’s game.

1. Containing McDavid and Draisaitl

The Nov. 12 outcome was a frustrating one for the Flyers. The team did a stellar job at containing Oilers superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. McDavid had one assist and one shot on goal for the game. Draisaitl was held pointless and without a shot attempt. Nevertheless, Philly came away from the game with an OT loss.

It may not be realistic to expect another near shutdown effort against two of the most dangerous players in the world. However, it is fair to ask the team to prevent McDavid and Draisaitl from singlehandedly winning the game for the Oilers.

2. Flyers Olympic reps on the blueline

Veteran Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen learned on Friday that he will represent Team Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics. He joins Flyers teammate Travis Sanheim (Team Canada) among the Philadelphia players headed to Italy in February.

On Saturday, the Flyers will lean heavily on their two Olympic-bound defensemen against the Oilers. Ditto Cam York, Jamie Drysdale and Nick Seeler.

On New Year’s Eve, Emil Andrae was a healthy scratch in Calgary. Noah Juulsen returned to the Philadelphia lineup. Tocchet said the decision was based on a dip in Andrae’s play prior to the holiday break. The coach described it as a “reset” for Andrae before a busy slate of games in January.

3. Special teams

Any discussion of playing the Edmonton Oilers starts with their two superstar players and the team’s lethal power play. The Oilers lead the NHL (as they often do) with a staggering 33.3 percent power play success rate.

The best penalty killing approach against the Oilers is to stay out of the box in the first place. The Flyers’ chances of victory go up considerably if they can limit penalties to two or fewer.

Meanwhile, the Edmonton PK ranks 20th in the NHL at 79.0 percent success. The Flyers have had some power play success against Edmonton the last couple seasons. Overall, Philly’s power play enters the game ranked 30th in the NHL at 15.9 percent efficiency.

4. Michkov watch

Speaking of power play success against the Oilers, second-year Flyers forward has scored three power play goals in three career games to dates. In fact, last season, the first two goals of the Russian winger’s NHL career came in Edmonton on 5-on-4 tallies.

Overall, Michkov has six points (4g, 2a) in head-to-head action with the Oilers. He will look to continue that success on Saturday. The Buffalo Sabres (4g, 5a, nine points in five games) are the only NHL team against whom Michkov has done more damage to, so far, in is his young career.