Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd McLellan ripped into his team during practice on Thursday, one day after the Oilers' 4-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

"There is nobody checking us right now. There's not an (expletive) single soul out here checking," McLellan yelled as he stopped the team's skate. "And we can't make the first (expletive) pass or the second one. Are you giving yourselves a chance? Is it (expletive) important? Are you getting better? Cause some team is getting better this morning somewhere."

After the practice, McLellan said his rant had the desired effect on his players.

"I thought we carried [Wednesday's] game into today's practice," McLellan told reporters. "They kinda had their shoulders rolled over and they weren't prepared to start so the catalyst was the coach today and he barked a little bit and then we were good."

McLellan kept three of his four forward lines intact from Wednesday's loss at practice but rotated wingers Ryan Strome and Drake Caggiula with Anton Slepyshev and Nathan Walker on Leon Draisaitl's line. On defence, Brandon Davidson and Yohann Auvitu made up the third paring, with Eric Gryba paired with the injured Andrej Sekera.

“We will make changes going forward,” McLellan told the Edmonton Sun.

The Oilers (11-15-2) are set to begin a three-game road trip on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens. The Oilers are hoping to find more consistency, having won consecutive games just twice this season.