Oilers-Flyers: From Vision to Reality, Oilers Show Flyers the Real Deal

Sunday's brunch battle between the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers was more than just a solid Oilers victory. This was a breakout game for the Oil offense and a glimpse at the vision Kevin Lowe had for his hockey club.

Basically starting from scratch with the losses of Chris Pronger, Ryan Smyth, and Jason Smith over the year and a half following the Stanley Cup run, Kevin Lowe landed blue-liners Sheldon Souray and Lubomir Visnovsky, a diamond-in-the-ruff goalie named Mathieu Garon, power forward Erik Cole, and an absolute brute in Steve MacIntyre.

Lowe also helped groom the likes of Andrew Cogliano, Sam Gagner, and Robert Nilsson.

Lowe gave up some talent to forge this new Oilers team, and some were disappointed to see the losses of Joni Pitkanen, Matt Greene, Curtis Glencross, and most notably Jarret Stoll.

After scoring just five goals in five straight losses, doubts of this new team dynamic were starting to surface.

Cole was moved around from line to line, Visnovsky's accuracy was coming into question, the defense's ability to supply much-needed breakout passing was suspect, and the Kid-line was broken up to get Nilsson to try to help Ales Hemsky score his first goal.

On Sunday, the pieces came together.

After winning a hard-fought contest with the Carolina Hurricanes less than 24 hours prior, the Oilers took to the ice to face the Flyers who had gone six games without a regulation loss.

After two wasted power play opportunities, it looked as though Edmonton would fall victim to their continued goal-scoring troubles. Until it began...

First it was Cole, making no mistake on a perfect feed from captain Ethan Moreau.

Then Hemsky, needing no one to help him score his first goal as he undressed four Flyers including the goalie to notch a highlight reel tally.

Next came MacIntyre. He took some shots in a battle with Riley Cote, but once the fisticuffs were through, it was Cote who took to the dressing room for repairs, and this Oilers team was sparked.

Within a minute of the TKO, Hemsky danced through the Flyers' zone for his second. And the Oilers never looked back.

Visnovsky was hitting the net, the reunited Kid-line was creating all sorts of chances, and defense was supplying an unlimited amount of breakout passes.

By the time the game was called, Hemsky and Tom Gilbert had three points while Souray and Ladislav Smid had two. It was the first time in 15 years that three Oilers defensemen had multiple points in a game, and it was the first time this season that the vision Kevin Lowe surely had for this group showed up to play.

To find out whether this vision is truly a reality will remain to be seen as the Oilers continue on this season. But with a .500 road game and five of six points at home, the Edmonton Oilers could be on their way to another crack at the Cup, and that is a vision the Oilers would love to make a reality.