Oilers Gameday – vs Carolina

We’re undefeated this year!

On the heels of Saturday afternoon’s 4-3 shootout win over the Phoenix Arizona Coyotes, the Oilers face the Carolina Hurricanes tonight at Rexall.

 

Last Games

Edmonton

We won! We’re playing 1.000 hockey in 2016! Plan the parade route!

It wasn’t a terrible game, that’s for sure. Jordan Eberle scored twice (including once on the power play!!!!!!) and Taylor Hall scored on a BEAUTIFUL no-look feed from Leon Draisaitl, and Matt Hendricks and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored in the shootout to get the second point. It was nice to see them play the Coyotes and come away with 2 points instead of none, and it was also nice to see Sad Shane Doan at the end of the game.

Carolina

Don’t know. Don’t care. I’ve made a point of not paying attention to them unless the Oilers are playing them, because I’m still mad about 2006. I’m pretty sure they’re pretty bad though, so hopefully that bodes well.

Keys to the Game

Edmonton

Crash the net. Score another PP goal. Try not to play on the perimeter so much. Get the puck to Leon Draisaitl who will get it to Taylor Hall. Keep the Hurricanes to the outside where possible.

Carolina

Keep the top Oilers line off the puck as much as possible. Keep Eberle and Nuge away from the puck. Get pucks and bodies to the net.

Players to Watch

Edmonton

This should be obvious by now. Taylor Hall. As he goes, the team goes. He scores, they win (not always, but often); when he doesn’t score (as in the 7 game skid) they don’t win. So watch him. He’s good at hockey.

Carolina

Jeff Skinner? He’s adorable.
Eric Staal? He has a Stanley Cup that he shouldn’t have, so he needs to go away.

 

Lineups

Edmonton

Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell

Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Matt Hendricks – Mark Letestu – Lauri Korpikoski

Rob Klinkhammer – Anton Lander – Jujhar Khaira

Andrej Sekera – Brandon Davidson

Darnell Nurse – Justin Schultz

Brad Hunt – Eric Gryba

Cam Talbot

Carolina

Kris Versteeg – Eric Staal – Elias Lindholm

Joakim Nordstrom – Jordan Staal – Andrej Nestrasil

Jeff Skinner – Viktor Rask – Phil Di Guiseppe

Chris Terry – Riley Nash – Brad Malone

John-Michael Liles – Justin Faulk

Jaccob Slavin – Ron Hainsey

Noah Hanifin – Brett Pesce

Eddie Lack

Final Thoughts

I know I sound like a broken record, but man I love Taylor Hall.

I was at the Oilers Season Seat Holder event at Rexall yesterday. My sole purpose was to get Taylor Hall’s autograph and let the chips fall where they may. Despite the terrible organization of the event itself (only the doors by the Gretzky statue were open and I’m pretty sure there were only 4 metal detectors in use), I had a great time. I think that it’s a shame that they don’t do this anymore at West Edmonton Mall, because there are more people in the city who are Oilers fans than season ticket holders.

My friend and I got in and bee-lined for Hall’s lineup, both of us more excited than we probably should have been. My excitement was momentarily tempered when I ran into one of my (15 year old) students in the same lineup, and I had to rethink my priorities for a minute. But then I caught a glimpse of Hall in all his bearded glory, and I was swept up in the moment yet again. We were in line for about 45 minutes, and as we got closer to the table, I found myself watching Hall react to the fans around him. Obviously, his interaction with young kids is the best, and it was pretty great to see him smiling and being engaged with the fans as they came up.

I know people grouse about his “character problems”, but I just don’t see it. He’s a professional athlete, an entertainer, and he owes the fans nothing outside of doing his job. This season, he (along with his roommates Connor McDavid and Luke Gazdic) went to the Stollery Children’s Hospital to visit with some of the patients. It wasn’t a team event, it was clearly a household thing. No one asked him to, but there he was. I was told on Twitter yesterday that he was rude to someone at a midnight video game release, and my initial reaction was “Yeah? And?” For the record, I’m not nice to people after midnight either.

Anyway. It was kind of a meat market yesterday, and I felt a little bad for the players because some people have zero ability to filter what they say. So instead of saying anything weird, we got our stuff signed and said thank you like we meant it (because we did), and walked away. If he’s got character problems, he’s pretty good at hiding them. I mean, in the few seconds my friend and I were in front of him, he was gracious and cordial and gave us both smiles that could light up a room.

He might not have the C on his jersey, but he’s my captain and the king of my heart.

 

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