Oilers Gameday – @ Panthers

The Edmonton Oilers visit the sunshine state tonight to kick off their four game road trip. Tonight they’ll take their talents to south beach and battle the Florida Panthers in the first of two meeting between the sides. The Panthers will visit Edmonton on November 21st. The Oilers have won each of their last four visits to Florida, while also winning seven of the last eight games overall between the clubs.

Edmonton comes into this game on a five game losing streak, their second such streak of the season. The Panthers come into this game on a five game losing streak of their own, struggling just as much as the Oilers have been. The early going has been rough for these two young teams.

Last Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers were embarrassed on home ice Saturday night as they lost 5-0 to the Detroit Red Wings. Goalie Richard Bachman gave up two quick goals before leaving the game with an injury, while backup Jason Labarbera gave up three goals. The Oilers only managed 14 shots on net, while giving up 31. Edmonton had only a handful of scoring chances and were dominated from the start of the game until the final horn.

Veteran defenders Andrew Ference and Ladislav Smid used words like embarrassing and unacceptable to describe the loss, while Smid said things are about to get uncomfortable and Ference said he’s sick of what he has seen.

The 5-0 loss comes on the heels of a players only meeting Edmonton held following their 4-0 loss to Toronto a week ago in Edmonton. A bit of a red flag there.

Florida: The Panthers have been equally as bad as Edmonton, but were able to hang in there last game against the Washington Capitals. The Caps edged the Cats 3-2 in a shoot-out on Saturday night in Washington. Goalie Scott Clemmensen made 21 saves in the effort for Florida.

Forwards Jesse Winchester and Tomas Fleischmann had the goals for Florida, while rookie Aleksander Barkov had the lone Panthers shoot-out marker.

The Cats tied the game late of Fleischmann’s PP goal, but were edged 3-1 in the shootout as all three Washington shooters found the back of the net.

Last Meeting:

The Panthers and Oilers last hooked up on March 23rd of 2012, where the Oilers edged the Panthers 2-1 in the shoot-out. That game was played in Sunrise, and was when the Panthers were on their way to the franchise’s first ever division title. Ryan Jones scored just 1:37 into the second period, while Jason Garrison scored three minutes later to tie the game.

Things remained tied up through 65 minutes, in large part in thanks to Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk, who made 10 saves on the Panthers in the third period.

In the shootout, Dubnyk was perfect, stopping all four Panther shooters, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored in the 4th round to give Edmonton the victory in the game.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Defender Taylor Fedun makes his NHL regular season debut tonight. Fedun was well on his way to making the team for the 2011-12 season, but suffered an injury on a bone-headed mistake by Eric Nystrom in a pre-season match in Minnesota. Fedun missed that entire season, and spent all year last year in the AHL.

Fedun is a smaller player, but is very smart and has a high hockey IQ. He’s decent at moving the puck, and while he isn’t overly physical he is a smart player when it comes to being in position. He’s earned this chance and it is an awesome story to see him in the NHL.

Florida: This will be the first chance for Oilers fans to see youngster Jonathan Huberdeau in action. Huberdeau was drafted in the same year as Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and he has made a big impact at the NHL level. He was awesome on a bad Panther team last year, and even won the Calder Trophy as the top rookie.

He had 14 goals and 31 points last year in 48 games, and so far this season has three goals and six points in 14 games. He’s a young and budding superstar in the NHL, and Oilers fans should keep a close eye on him tonight.

Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Expected Lines:

Ales Hemsky – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Ryan Smyth – Sam Gagner – Nail Yakupov

Ryan Jones – Boyd Gordon – Marc Arcobello

Luke Gazdic – Will Acton – Ben Eager

Ladislav Smid – Philip Larsen

Andrew Ference – Jeff Petry

Nick Schultz – Taylor Fedun

Devan Dubnyk

Florida Panthers Expected Lines:

Jonathan Huberdeau – Aleksander Barkov – Tomas Fleischmann

Kris Versteeg – Marcel Goc – Tomas Kopecky

Brad Boyes – Shawn Matthias – Sean Bergenheim

Scottie Upshall – Nick Bjugstad – Jesse Winchester

Brian Campbell – Tom Gilbert

Dimitry Kulikov – Mike Weaver

Ryan Whitney – Eric Gudbranson

Jacob Markstrom