Oilers Gameday – Vs. Bruins

The Oilers return home following a disastrous five game road trip tonight to open a homestand against the Boston Bruins. This will be the first of two meetings between the Bruins and the Oilers on the season. The second meeting comes in Boston in less than two weeks, on December 14th.

The Oilers will be without F’s Connor McDavid, Nail Yakupov and Rob Klinkhammer tonight, all out with injuries and currently on the IR. F Benoit Pouliot and D’s Andrew Ference and Eric Gryba are expected to be tonight’s healthy scratches. The Bruins, meanwhile, will be without F’s Chris Kelly and David Pastrnak along with D Kevan Miller tonight, all are currently on the IR.

Anders Nilsson gets the start for Edmonton while Tuukka Rask gets the nod for the Bruins.

Last Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers last took to the ice on Monday night in Toronto against the Maple Leafs. Edmonton dominated the first period, but they didn’t test Garret Sparks with enough hard shots and paid for it. Leo Komarov scored a power-play goal 6:45 in that actually proved to be the difference.

The Leafs dominated the middle frame and then put things away in the final twenty minutes. Nazem Kadri tipped home a Jake Gardiner shot at the 7:33 mark for insurance, then Komarov sealed the deal with an empty net goal. Sparks stopped 24 shots in the 3-0 shutout victory.

Boston: The Bruins last played on Friday afternoon at home against the Rangers. It was arguably Boston’s most complete game of the season, as they battled hard all afternoon. Patrice Bergeron opened the scoring 14:15 into the game, but the Rangers rallied right back.

Oscar Lindberg and Rick Nash would both score in the opening 5:15 of the second period to put the Rangers ahead, the first of two such instances. Brett Connolly would tie things back up 9:34 into the period, setting us up for a crazy final frame.

J.T. Miller scored 9:28 into the third, giving the Rangers a lead that looked safe. Then came a costly penalty, one that set up a Ryan Spooner goal to tie things up at the 16:14 mark. The B’s would steal all momentum and take the lead for good at 18:17 when David Krejci beat Henrik Lundqvist. The B’s would hang on to win 4-3.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Bruins last met in February of 2015 in Edmonton. The Oilers stormed out of the gate, attacking the Bruins and finding some success. Nail Yakupov scored 4:29 in while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added insurance just over ten minutes later. Louis Eriksson would get the Bruins on the board in the final minute, but it seemingly didn’t matter.

Teddy Purcell extended Edmonton’s lead again exactly nine minutes into the middle frame with a power-play goal, but the tide changed in Boston’s favor after that. Reilly Smith and David Pastrnak would each score late in the second to tie things. A scoreless third period resulted in an overtime that solved nothing.

The sides went to a shootout, where the first 23 shooters would all be stopped by Tuukka Rask and Ben Scrivens. Finally, in the bottom of the twelfth round, Martin Marincin would score to give Edmonton the 4-3 victory.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: Play with some pride. The Oilers laid an egg in Toronto on Monday night, looking completely uninterested in the game. If they want to have a chance to respond tonight, they’ll need to be engaged from the start and play with a little pride. Play a hard game!

Boston: Play a tough, hard game. The B’s are a physical team that wins battles and creates chances through doing so. The Oilers are a softer team and struggle in battles, you see where I’m going with this? If Boston battles hard tonight, they could run the Oilers over.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Jordan Eberle has struggled since his return from a shoulder injury. He’s been ineffective offensively and isn’t exactly stellar defensively. Todd McLellan low-key called him out on Monday while his name is everywhere in trade rumors. I’ll be interested to see how he responds tonight.

Boston: With Milan Lucic gone, Matt Beleskey has taken over as Boston’s resident power-forward. Beleskey was viewed as an “overrated” free agent this past summer, but he signed a fair contract and has performed quite well. I’ll be interested to see what kind of impact the big and heavy forward has against a softer Edmonton team.

Quick Hits:

The Bruins and Oilers split the season series last year, with the home team winning each game. This will be Boston’s final trip ever to Rexall Place, the sides met in both the 1988 and 1990 Stanley Cups Finals. The Bruins are one of the NHL’s best road teams, posting an 8-2-0 record away from home. The Oilers are 4-5-1 on home ice so far this year. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Teddy Purcell led the Oilers against Boston last year, each had two points in two games.

Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell

Matt Hendricks – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Lauri Korpikoski – Anton Lander – Iiro Pakarinen

Luke Gazdic – Mark Letestu – Jujhar Khaira

Darnell Nurse – Andrej Sekera

Oscar Klefbom – Mark Fayne

Brandon Davidson – Justin Schultz

Anders Nilsson

Boston Bruins Lines:

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Frank Vatrano

Matt Beleskey – David Krejci – Loui Eriksson

Brian Ferlin – Ryan Spooner – Jimmy Hayes

Zac Rinaldo – Joonas Kemppainen – Brett Connolly

Zdeno Chara – Zach Trotman

Dennis Seidenberg – Colin Miller

Torey Krug – Adam McQuaid

Tuukka Rask