Oilers Gameday – @ Florida

The Oilers are back in action tonight, facing off against the Florida Panthers in a rematch of a game that saw the Oilers play with way more physicality than we’re used to. In case you’ve forgotten, Matt Hendricks drilled Aaron Ekblad into the boards and ended up with a three-game suspension; he’s eligible to return to the lineup today.

Twitter tells me that both matt Hendricks and Luke Gazdic are in for the Oilers, while Shawn Thornton is in the lineup for Florida.

Hold on to your hats, Oiler fans! This is gonna get good.

Last Games

Edmonton

The Oilers beat the Flames Saturday night, 2-1 in the shootout. Mark Fayne had his first goal in 50 games, and NHL All-Star Taylor Hall finally registered an assist after scoring only two points in his previous 10 games.

I didn’t watch (prior commitments and all that), but this was the recap I got from a buddy: The whole team was bad. The shots weren’t indicative. The scoring chances were lopsided the other way. The ice was awful, lots of bouncing pucks. I thought that he (Hall) and Leon really struggled. IMO, they try so hard to beat Calgary, they grip their sticks too tight. This may give them confidence.
Shout out to @mental_gas for that succinct recap.

Florida

The Panthers are riding a 3-game losing streak (including a 6-0 shellacking by the Calgary Flames). They dropped their last game 3-1 to Tampa Bay, and after winning 12 straight seem to be on a bit of a slide. They’ve been outscored 12-3 in those losses, so they’re either going to be hungry and come out flying, or the Oilers will be able to capitalize. Either way…. Florida is losing more than they’re winning right now. (You know the Oilers though…slumpbusters extraordinaire…)

Keys to the Game

Edmonton

I’ve been saying this for a while now, but I think they really, desperately, need to loosen up on the ice and just play their game. Last time thee teams met, the Oilers significantly outplayed the Panthers but were stymied by Al Montoya in net.

I know that we shouldn’t advocate for people getting hurt, but I’m all for a little (measured) meanness out there. With Hendricks, Gazdic and Kassian in the lineup tonight – we might be looking at the most physical game of the year for the Oilers. So maybe what that means is that the Oilers definitely need to dictate the pace and style of play. I don’t think getting caught in the penalty box is going to help anyone, so hopefully they stay disciplined enough to keep playing their game but are physical enough to not get tossed around.

Florida

Not let what happened to Ekblad, and any residual anger from that, affect their game play. I can see this going one of two ways: Florida comes out flying and returns to their winning ways against the Oilers, or they get blinded by the need for retribution for Ekblad and let the Oilers’ skill guys take advantage of that rage. Either way, should be a good one.

The Panthers, who were significantly outplayed by the Oilers last go-around, were beaten by the Flames who were beaten by the Oilers. Are the Panthers as good as their win streak suggests they are? I’d say no.

Players to Watch

Edmonton

You know….King of my heart and all that.

Also, I’m interested to see how Zack Kassian plays tonight, especially against a team that will probably be pushing the envelope physically. I don’t want to see any Gagner-type injuries, but I’d love to see Kassian make his presence felt.

Florida

Shawn Thornton. Not because he’s good (he’s not), but because I predict he’s going to be used to take out one of our young guys. I wonder if he can keep up….

Projected Lineups

Edmonton

Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell

Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Zack Kassian – Mark Letestu – Nail Yakupov

Luke Gazdic – Matt Hendricks – Iiro Pakarinen

Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne

Darnell Nurse – Justin Schultz

Brandon Davidson – Eric Gryba

Cam Talbot

Florida

Jonathan Huberdeau – Aleksander Barkov – Jaromir Jagr

Jussi Jokinen – Vincent Trocheck – Reilly Smith

Brandon Pirri – Nick Bjugstand – Logan Shaw

Quinton Howden – Derek MacKenzie – Corban Knight

Brian Campbell – Erik Gudbranson

Willie Mitchell – Dmitri Kulikov

Steve Kampfer – Alex Petrovic

Al Montoya

Final Thoughts

I saw a lot of grousing on the weekend about how bad this team is. I’ve had hours of conversations with people about how bad this team is.

I know they are.

But they’re not quite as bad as we’ve come to expect. How do I know?

Math.

#Oilers 2014 – 2015 season through game 46: 11 – 26 – 9, 31 pts. #Oilers 2015 – 2016 season through game 46: 18 – 23 – 5, 41 pts.

— zach laing (@Loweded) January 18, 2016

(Yes, they’re 5 games below .500. But they’re not 15 games below, and that’s something.)

I wrote about it last week, and mentioned that we need patience as a fan base. We do. And when things turn around, and McDavid is back, and they start winning… we’ll be golden.

And if that’s not enough for you, remember that Connor McDavid is ours.

Imagine that.