Oilers Gameday – @ Colorado

After two surprising wins against teams that routinely dominate them, the Oilers will try and make it three straight victories tonight as they visit Denver to battle the Avalanche in the first of three meetings between the teams. This is another central division foe that had it’s way a year ago, sweeping the Oilers in three games.

Tonight will open a four game stretch for the Oilers against teams currently outside of the playoff picture. After this game, Edmonton will fly to Arizona to open a home-and-home set with the Coyotes before hosting the Maple Leafs next Tuesday night. A solid stretch, say 3-1-0, would go a long way for the Orange and Blue.

Cam Talbot is back in for the Oilers tonight after shutting out Chicago on Monday, while Semyon Varlamov gets the nod for Colorado.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers have to find a way to use their speed tonight to expose a lackluster defensive group for the Avalanche. Colorado’s defense is a below average group with, outside of Tyson Barrie, a lot of slower veteran types who should struggle with young and speedy forwards. Players like Connor McDavid and Jesse Puljujarvi should be able to expose that.

Colorado: The Avalanche, like the Oilers, have a ton of skilled forwards on the roster. Their best chance to win this hockey game might be to get into a track meet with Edmonton. Hope Semyon Varlamov can make enough stops and push a young Edmonton defense with your high end skill. That’s their best chance to finally score over three goals in a game.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Drake Caggiula has two points in two NHL games and has looked the part of NHL’er for the most part. Will Todd McLellan start taking the training wheels off his new toy now that he’s dipped his feet in the NHL game after a lengthy period on the shelf? I’ll be interested to see what Caggiula does with the expected open ice tonight.

Colorado: Mikko Rantanen dominated the AHL in his rookie season and is now adapting to full time NHL duty. He’ll skate on Colorado’s top line and should present a challenge to Edmonton’s defensive group. Rantanen is a power forward with a lot of skill and can make you pay in a number of ways.

The Lines:

No changes tonight, so the veteran trio of Benoit Pouliot, Eric Gryba and Mark Letestu will set out again. It also looks like the lines themselves will stay the same for Edmonton after two consecutive victories. Don’t fix what isn’t broken, right?

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Milan Lucic – Connor McDavid – Jesse Puljujarvi

Patrick Maroon – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Anton Slepyshev – Leon Draisaitl – Zack Kassian

Matt Hendricks – Drake Caggiula – Tyler Pitlick

Oscar Klefbom – Adam Larsson

Andrej Sekera – Kris Russell

Darnell Nurse – Matt Benning

Cam Talbot

Colorado Avalanche Lines:

Rene Bourque – Nathan MacKinnon – Mikko Rantanen

A.J. Greer – Carl Soderberg – Matt Duchene

Blake Comeau – John Mitchell – Jarome Iginla

Cody McLeod – Joe Colborne – Andreas Martinsen

Fedor Tyutin – Erik Johnson

Patrick Wiercioch – Tyson Barrie

Francois Beauchemin – Eric Gelinas

Semyon Varlamov

Game Notes:

This is the first of two meetings in Denver between the teams this season. They’ll meet in Edmonton once to conclude the season series later in the year. Colorado swept the season series last year with a pair of 3-2 victories in Edmonton and a 4-1 decision in Colorado.

Connor McDavid’s two assists on Monday night have him in first place in scoring in the NHL with 24 points, a one point cushion over Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele. He assisted on Oscar Klefbom’s and Leon Draisaitl’s goals in the victory over Chicago.

Edmonton’s powerplay, which was on a terrible stretch, finally broke the seal with a three goal night against Chicago. It was their most potent night on the season. Edmonton’s penalty killing unit is currently in the NHL’s top ten.

Prediction:

Colorado has owned Edmonton the last couple of seasons, and the Pepsi Center has been a house of horrors for the Oilers. Combine those two things with a hot Colorado team and things don’t look too good for the visitors tonight.

The Oilers are flying high however, and I think they’ll put forth a strong effort tonight. Varlamov is getting hot, however, and he’ll trip up this Oiler offense.

Colorado wins their third straight 3-2 game, this one in overtime. Eberle and Nurse score for Edmonton, while McLeod and Rantanen get regulation tallies for the Avalanche. Iginla wins it in overtime.