The Oilers take to the Rogers Place ice tonight, hosting the Colorado Avalanche for the final time this season. After a brief respite from the losing (winning one in Denver last weekend) the Oilers are back on their bullshit, losing 3-2 in regulation (after being up 2-0) to the Bruins on Tuesday night.
Today, well…
The Oilers are 2-7-1 in their last 10, while the Avalanche are a respectable 5-5-0. Unless Connor McDavid goes supernova, this is probably going to the Avs.
Keys to the Game
Edmonton
- Score first and hang on to the lead, if that happens.
- Don’t let the other team score first.
- Be like Jamie Benn.
Colorado
- Score first. And often. It’s the same story, really.
- Make the Oilers take penalties. It’s a home game for them and they’re bad at the PK.
Players to Watch
Edmonton
- Yohann Auvitu is playing tonight as a 7D, with Patrick Maroon out for a game or two. It’s not entirely clear that he’s great on defence, but good things tend to happen when he’s playing up front.
Colorado
- Nathan MacKinnon has been the Avs best player this season. He’s pretty great to watch, and should be in the conversation for the Hart trophy if the Avs make the playoffs.
Projected Lineups
Edmonton
Milan Lucic – Connor McDavid – Leon Drasaitl
Mike Cammalleri – Ryan Strome – Anton Slepyshev
Jesse Puljujarvi – Mark Letestu – Zack Kassian
Yohann Auvitu – Jujhar Khaira – Iiro Pakarinen
Darnell Nurse – Adam Larsson
Oscar Klefbom – Kris Russell
Brandon Davidson – Matt Benning
Cam Talbot
Colorado
Gabriel Landeskog – Nathan MacKinnon – Miiko Rantanen
Matt Nieto* – Carl Soderberg – Blake Comeau
Gabriel Bourque – Alexander Kerfoot – JT Compher
Colin Wilson – Tyson Jost – Nail Yakupov
Nikita Zadorov – Tyson Barrie
Samuel Girard – Patrik Nemeth
David Warsofsky – Duncan Siemens
Semyon Varlamov
Notes
Andrej Sekera is on the injured reserve, and once he’s back it makes sense that the Oilers might shut Oscar Klefbom down. He’s been off, somehow, for most of the season and since there’s no chance of a postseason, the Oilers should do the right thing and put him out of his misery.
The trade deadline is coming up on Monday, and it’s not unreasonable to think that the Oilers’ roster is going to look different after the deadline. Our own Alex Thomas will have all the deadline news.
*In case you were wondering, he’s from Long Beach, CA
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