Oilers Gameday – @ Ducks

The Oilers conclude a back-to-back set of games tonight in Anaheim as they take on the Ducks for the first meeting of the season between the division rivals. This also marks the start of a home-and-home set between the sides, which will conclude on Friday night in Edmonton. The Ducks won each meeting played in Anaheim last season.

The Oilers will be without Nikita Nikitin and Boyd Gordon tonight, while the Ducks will be without a number of players, namely star forward Corey Perry.

Viktor Fasth gets the go for Edmonton against his former team, while Frederick Andersen is expected to start for the Ducks.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers played last night in San Jose, and actually put forth a pretty solid road performance against a better team. That said, the Oilers did sleep through the first bit of the game, and paid dearly for it. Joe Pavelski scored just 4:33 into the game, while Barclay Goodrow added some insurance with his first NHL goal just moments later.

The Oilers battled back however, and got within one thanks to a Jordan Eberle tally off of a beautiful Leon Draisaitl feed at the 12:08 mark. The Oilers kept the pressure up, and forced a big turnover that resulted in David Perron scoring the game tying goal late in the frame.

The second period was dominated by Edmonton early, but quickly went into Sharks control. Logan Couture tipped a Scott Hannan shot past Scrivens at the 6:14 mark of the frame, while Joe Pavelski scored on a power-play moments later to give the Sharks a 4-2 lead.

Edmonton got some looks in the third, but Brent Burns would put the game out of reach with a blast that beat Scrivens later in the frame. The Sharks would hold on, winning 5-2, although a few bounces Edmonton’s way and this is a totally different game.

Anaheim: The Ducks were in Winnipeg on Sunday, and got into a shootout with the streaking Jets. Rene Bourque opened the scoring with a power-play marker 11:02 into the game, but the Jets quickly tied it with a PPG of their own, compliments of Dustin Byfuglien.

The Jets, thanks to Andrew Ladd, would take a lead early in the second, but the pesky Ducks would keep working and eventually tie the game thanks to a Jakob Silfverberg tally. Ryan Kesler would give the Ducks the lead late in the frame, and set things up for a tight third period.

Oiler killer Jacob Trouba would tie the game late to send things to overtime, but the Ducks would rebound and take the contest, thanks to a Kyle Palmieri snipe at the 53 second mark. The Ducks OT win was by a 4-3 tally.

The Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Ducks last met in April at Rexall Place in a game where Anaheim struck early, just 1:20 in, thanks to Jakob Silfverberg. Things were even from that point however, and Edmonton would tie things up thanks to a Taylor Hall power-play goal in the second period. David Perron would give the Oilers a lead with a short-handed goal later in the middle frame, while Justin Schultz would provide the insurance marker by wrapping a puck in late in the frame.

The Ducks pushed in the third period, getting a goal from Corey Perry to cut the lead to one, but Edmonton would hold strong and get a Jordan Eberle goal late to put things away. Viktor Fasth would shut the door and cement a 4-2 victory for the Oilers.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: Build off of your last two efforts! The Oilers played very well Sunday night, and played well enough to win last night as well. Yes, the Oilers made some mistakes and got poor goaltending, but all in all they played the Sharks very well in two straight games. Bring that kind of effort tonight, and you can easily steal a win from a banged up Ducks team.

Anaheim: The Ducks need to play a physical style tonight. Anaheim has a lot of bigger players who can control a game with their body, while Edmonton is known as a small team. If the Ducks throw their body around tonight, the Oilers will be hard pressed to answer the call. Physical play likely equals a win in this regard.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl had a beautiful set up last night on Jordan Eberle’s goal, and has played very well these last two games. He’s starting to click with Eberle and Perron, and is due for a goal. I’ll say he builds on his solid play as of late with another good effort tonight, and a goal to boot.

Anaheim: Ryan Kesler was an Oiler killer in Vancouver, and now joins a Ducks team that has owned Edmonton recently. Kesler’s offensive ability and overall physical style usually throws the Oilers off, and his best efforts usually come against this team. I’m expecting a big game from Kesler tonight.

Quick Hits:

This will be the first meeting of the season between the sides. Anaheim won the season series last year by a 3-2 margin, with Edmonton winning two of the last three meetings. The Ducks will be without F Corey Perry for an extended period of time. Oilers forward Boyd Gordon is out with a back injury. The two sides will meet again on Friday in Edmonton. The Oilers have lost 12 of their last 13 games.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Teddy Purcell

David Perron – Leon Draisaitl – Jordan Eberle

Nail Yakupov – Mark Arcobello – Tyler Pitlick

Luke Gazdic – Matt Hendricks – Steve Pinizzotto

Oscar Klefbom – Jeff Petry

Andrew Ference – Mark Fayne

Keith Aulie – Justin Schultz

Viktor Fasth

Anaheim Ducks Lines:

Rene Bourque – Ryan Getzlaf – Devante Smith-Pelly

Matt Beleskey – Ryan Kesler – Kyle Palmieri

Andrew Cogliano – Rickard Rakell – Jakob Silfverberg

Patrick Maroon – Nate Thompson – Tim Jackman

Cam Fowler – Josh Manson

Hampus Lindholm – Colby Robak

Clayton Stoner – Sami Vatanen

Frederick Andersen