Oilers Gameday – @ Predators

The Oilers rodeo road trip comes to a close tonight in the Music City as Edmonton visits the Central Division leading Nashville Predators for the second meeting between the sides on the season. Nashville returns home for a quick one game pit-stop, while Edmonton is concluding a five game road trip that has taken them through the Eastern part of the US.

The Oilers will be without forward Taylor Hall, who is battling a knee injury, while Nashville enters tonight with no major injuries and a healthy roster.

Viktor Fasth starts his third in a row for Edmonton, while Pekka Rinne gets the go for Nashville tonight, looking to build off of his unreal start to the season.

Yes, another short version tonight, these earlier games are taking some getting used to!

The Last Games:

Edmonton was in the big apple of Sunday night for a date with the Rangers, and played their most complete game of the season. The Oilers came out flying, and never really handed over momentum in this one. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored first in the opening frame at the 3:19 mark, but the Rangers tied things up with a Carl Hagelin goal at the 12:34 mark.

It was all Edmonton from there however, as Viktor Fasth would go perfect the rest of the way, and Benoit Pouliot would tally the game winner in the middle period. Teddy Purcell scored an empty net goal to seal the deal 3-2, giving Edmonton their second win in a row.

Nashville, meanwhile, has been off since they visited the Blues last week. The Blues opened the scoring with the ice breaker at the 14:30 mark of the first period with a Jori Lehtera goal, but Nashville would take the game over from there. Pekka Rinne would slam the door shut the rest of the game, and the Predator offense would step up and apply the pressure.

The Preds finally struck even in the middle frame as Filip Forsberg scored moments in, and then finally took the lead in the third off of a James Neal goal, which would prove to be the winner in a 2-1 decision.

The Last Meeting:

Edmonton and Nashville met at Rexall Place at the end of October, in a game that can only be described as a blow-out for the road side. Nashville dominated the opening frame, getting almost all the shots and scoring chances, but couldn’t solve Ben Scrivens. Edmonton got a good chance to open the second, but hit the post moments in.

Nashville was finally rewarded at the 6:23 mark as Craig Smith scored the first of four Nashville goals. Taylor Beck would add a tally moments later to make it 2-0, the score after two, while Smith and Shea Weber would score goals in the third period. Taylor Hall would get Edmonton a marker in between the Preds’ goals, but it was simply a stat padder in a 4-1 Nashville blow-out.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: Keeping the momentum up tonight is huge for the Oilers against a Nashville team that has allowed Edmonton to have recent success against them. The Oilers key to this game is to keep driving the attack as they did in New York. If they can do that against this Nashville team, they will find a way past Pekka Rinne, and likely find a way to two massive points on the road.

Nashville: Historically, the Preds are a good defensive team, and Edmonton usually struggles against these teams. The Predators key tonight is quite simple, keep the Oiler attackers to the outside. Edmonton struggles to create offense from the points, and Pekka Rinne rarely gives up long shot goals. Do that, and you’ll likely walk away with the win.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Forward Nail Yakupov is doing all of the little things right, and is shooting the puck on net a ton. The problem is nothing is going in for the kid, but eventually he is going to catch a break. I’ve loved his game during this road trip, and I believe it is a matter of time before he gets rewarded. Something tells me that reward comes tonight in the form of a goal.

Nashville: Nashville forward Craig Smith scored twice in the last meeting between the teams, and is slowly making his way into realm of very good NHL players. He’s underrated, but this kid is very good, and has a knack for putting the puck in the net. While the focus will be on guys like Neal and Weber, don’t forget to keep an eye on this kid tonight.

Quick Hits:

Edmonton swept the three game season series between the teams last year, shutting Nashville out in the one meeting in the Music City 3-0, Ilya Bryzgalov got the win that night. Nashville beat Edmonton earlier this year, and the sides will conclude their season series later this month. The Predators are first in their division currently, off to one of the best starts in franchise history.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

David Perron – Mark Arcobello – Nail Yakupov

Iiro Pakarinen – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell

Matt Hendricks – Boyd Gordon – Jesse Joensuu

Nikita Nikitin – Jeff Petry

Keith Aulie – Mark Fayne

Andrew Ference – Justin Schultz

Viktor Fasth

Nashville Predators Lines:

Filip Forsberg – Mike Ribeiro – James Neal

Matt Cullen – Derek Roy – Craig Smith

Gabriel Bourque – Calle Jarnkrok – Olli Jokinen

Eric Nystrom – Paul Gaustad – Taylor Beck

Roman Josi – Shea Weber

Anton Volchenkov – Seth Jones

Mattias Ekholm – Ryan Ellis

Pekka Rinne