Oilers Gameday – Vs. Panthers

The Oilers have won two in a row and are looking to go streaking tonight as they host the Florida Panthers for the second and final meeting between the sides for the season. Edmonton is in the midst of a three game home-stand, which they opened up with a 7-0 thrashing over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.

The Oilers will stick with the same group of players that won the last two games, not making any real changes. Mark Arcobello still sticks around in the press box, while defender Philip Larsen is still battling a little bit of an injury.

Steve MacIntyre, the tough guy who was claimed off waivers at the end of the pre-season, was placed on waivers this afternoon. Steve played in one pre-season game, the finale in OKC, where he was hurt when going for a hit. MacIntyre is expected to clear waivers and get some ice time in the AHL to try and get back up to speed.

Last Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers offense broke threw and exploded on Tuesday night. Jordan Eberle put home a rebound off a Corey Potter shot just over two minutes in to give the Oilers a lead, while David Perron would score on a rebound on the PP a few minutes later. Ryan Smyth would bat home a pass across in the final minutes on the PP, and Edmonton was up 3-0 after one.

In the second, David Perron snapped a shot home from a strange angle, while Nail Yakupov would put home a rebound on the power-play to put the Oil up five. Justin Schultz would score on a beautiful feed from David Perron late to put the Oil up six late.

In the third, Taylor Hall broke in and scored late to go up seven, while Devan Dubnyk made 14 saves to record his first shut-out of the season.

Florida: The Panthers scored three minutes in as Brad Boyes scored on the power-play for the only goal in the first, while Chris Higgins would score early in the second to have things tied at one after two.

In the third, Janik Hansen scored early to put Vancouver on top 2-1, but it was short lived as Shawn Matthias would wrist home a shot six minutes later to tie things up yet again. The sides would head to OT and play the extra five, but nothing could be settled.

In the shoot-out, Jonathan Huberdeau would score in the first round, and Tim Thomas would stop every shot for the 3-2 win in the shoot-out.

Last Meeting:

Edmonton and Florida met in sunrise earlier this month in a closely contested game. Marcel Goc scored ten minutes in to give Florida the lead, but Philip Larsen would score on a beautiful feed from RNH to send things into the intermission tied.

In the second, Mark Arcobello and Taylor Fedun would score their first NHL goals seconds apart to give the Oilers a 3-1 lead, and the team would dominate the rest of the period, going into the third up two. In that third, Scottie Upshall would score around the half-way mark, then again in the final minute to send things to OT.

In the extra frame, Edmonton got a power-play chance and put the game away as Mark Arcobello fired home his second on the night and first career OT goal, giving the Oilers a 3-2 win.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: David Perron has scored five goals in the last six games, and he has brought a physical element and an annoyance to the opponent’s on the ice. Perron has been tremendous recently and has been a huge driving force for the Oilers up front. His defensive game has tightened up and his offensive game keeps picking up. He’s hot right now, and I suspect that will continue tonight.

Florida: Panthers goalie Tim Thomas took last season off after a fall out in Boston. Thomas put on one of the best shows in NHL history in 2011 to give the Bruins their first Stanley Cup in a number of years. Thomas hasn’t lit it up this season, but he’s been serviceable for the young Panthers. He might not be the same goalie from his years in Boston, but Tim Thomas is a fun goalie to watch and someone Oilers fans should keep an eye on.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lineup:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Ryan Smyth – Boyd Gordon – David Perron

Nail Yakupov – Sam Gagner – Ales Hemsky

Jesse Joensuu – Will Acton – Luke Gazdic

Anton Belov – Justin Schultz

Andrew Ference – Jeff Petry

Nick Schultz – Corey Potter

Devan Dubnyk

Florida Panthers Lineup:

Jonathan Huberdeau – Nick Bjugstad – Tomas Fleischmann

Scottie Upshall – Aleksander Barkov – Brad Boyes

Tomas Kopecky – Marcel Goc – Jesse Winchester

Sean Bergenheim – Shawn Matthias – Jimmy Hayes

Brian Campbell – Tom Gilbert

Dmitry Kulikov – Mike Weaver

Erik Gudbranson – Mike Mottau