Oilers Gameday – @ Lightning

Following a difficult outing on Tuesday, the Oilers return to the ice tonight to battle the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second and final meeting between the sides on the season. This is Edmonton’s first trip to Tampa since early last season, nearly a year and a half ago.

The Oilers enter tonight at close to full health, while the Bolts have both Victor Hedman and Tyler Johnson operating at less than 100%, and actually unlikely to play.

Viktor Fasth is expected to get the start for Edmonton, while star Ben Bishop will get the go for Tampa Bay.

Last Games:

Edmonton: While the score wasn’t awful, Edmonton was dominated on Tuesday night in St. Louis by the hottest team in the NHL right now, the Blues. St. Louis dominated the opening frame, and got rewarded with goals from Vlad Tarasenko and David Backes to go into the intermission with a cushion.

Jaden Schwartz would make it 3-0 5:30 into the second period, and even though Ben Scrivens would calm down in net, Edmonton would still get crushed, ending the second period with only eight shots through forty minutes, an awful showing.

Benoit Pouliot would score a pair of goals in the final frame, but an Alex Steen marker in the middle of those two goals kept things from getting interesting, as the Blues cruised to a 4-2 victory.

Tampa Bay: The Bolts shipped up to Boston on Tuesday night, playing a hard fought game against the B’s. Steven Stamkos and Brad Marchand traded first period goals, while shots were nearly dead even in a fabulous twenty minutes of hockey.

The Bolts would get a second Stamkos goal to go up 2-1 early in the second, but David Pasternak and Milan Lucic would each score to give Boston a 3-2 lead heading to the final frame.

In the third, Pasternak and Ryan Callahan would trade goals, but it meant nothing as Tuukka Rask held the fort long enough to give Boston the 3-2 win.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Bolts opened the season series back on October 20th at Rexall Place in a really entertaining bout. The first period was pretty even, but both goalies held the fort and sent the sides to the middle frame scoreless.

Brian Boyle broke the ice just 1:21 into the middle frame with a goal from a weird angle, but Edmonton quickly answered thanks to a Justin Schultz marker just over three minutes later.

Edmonton got a golden chance late in the period, at the 14:57 mark, and took advantage of it, as Taylor Hall was awarded a penalty shot and converted on it to put the Oil up one heading to the third period.

Brett Connolly tied things up late, but just under three minutes after his goal, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would convert on a turnover to put Edmonton up 3-2, which would be the final score.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: A quick start is key tonight for the Oilers. Edmonton was beaten in the first twenty minutes on Tuesday, and they simply can’t allow that to happen again tonight. The Oilers must attack the Bolts from the get go, and put pressure on a defense that hasn’t been playing that great lately. Start quick, and you’ll have a chance.

Tampa Bay: Use your skill. It sounds simple, and it really is simple, just your your skill. Tampa Bay is one of the most skilled teams in the NHL, and should be able to dominate a weak defense and suspect goalie tonight. If Stamkos, Killorn and the rest of the killer Bolts get going, it’ll just be two more easy points for Tampa.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oilers F Benoit Pouliot has been on a tear since returning from injury. Pouliot not only is playing a solid two-way game, but he’s being physical and is putting up offense. To be honest, he might be the Oil’s best forward going right now. Keep an eye on him as he looks to extend his good play.

Tampa Bay: F Steven Stamkos is, in my mind, the best goal scoring forward in the NHL. He’s dynamic, and can do it all. Not only will he blast a shot past you, but he’ll also place a beautiful pass onto a teammate’s stick, and will backcheck to stop your chance. He’s a pleasure to watch, keep an eye on him tonight.

Quick Hits:

The Oilers have lost 13 games in a row on the road, going 0-7-6 in that stretch, the worst in franchise history. F Taylor Hall had a multi-game point streak broken on Tuesday in St. Louis, but F Jordan Eberle continued his with an assist on Benoit Pouliot’s first goal. This will be Viktor Fasth’s first start since last Tuesday’s loss to Detroit at home.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Benoit Pouliot – Derek Roy – Nail Yakupov

Matt Fraser – Anton Lander – Teddy Purcell

Matt Hendricks – Boyd Gordon – Rob Klinkhammer

Nikita Nikitin – Mark Fayne

Oscar Klefbom – Jeff Petry

Andrew Ference – Justin Schultz

Viktor Fasth

Tampa Bay Lightning Lines:

Ondrej Palat – Steven Stamkos – Nikita Kucherov

Alex Killorn – Valtteri Filppula – Ryan Callahan

Cedric Paquette – Vladislav Namestnikov – Jonathan Drouin

Brendan Morrow – Brian Boyle – JT Brown

Matt Carle – Anton Stralman

Jason Garrison – Andrej Sustr

Mark Barberio – Nikita Nesterov

Ben Bishop