Oilers Gameday – @ Philadelphia

The Oilers are back in action tonight, this time in Philadelphia where they will begin a back-to-back (finishing tomorrow in Minnesota). The Oilers lost in OT to Buffalo on Tuesday night, and should be looking to bounce back against the Flyers.

Last season, the first meeting of the year between these two teams was tension-filled, as Connor McDavid was taken awkwardly into the boards by Flyers defencemen Brandon Manning and Michael Del Zotto.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z3YfNMBXc0

We all know how that ended – Connor was out until the end of January, and despite a 6-game win streak in December during which they briefly held a playoff spot, the Oilers missed the playoffs again.

Keys to the Game

Edmonton

• Since the problem with this team isn’t shooting, I won’t say that they need to put the puck on the net. I will say, however, that they need to get some better quality chances on Steve Mason than they have been on other goalies.
• Philly is on a 6-game win streak, so the Oilers need to get goals early and play to win rather than playing for a tie. It sounds simple, but it’s amazing how often the Oilers have to play from behind instead of jumping early.
• Keep the front of the net clear. With Gustavsson getting the start over Talbot tonight, it’s crucial that the Oilers let the goalie see the puck.

Philadelphia

• Force the Oilers to play from behind. it’s not always a sure thing, but they’re not great at regaining and maintaining a lead.
• Get lots of pucks on net. In order to keep Gustavsson off his game, the Flyers need to keep him busy.
• With the last change, the Flyers should be able to target McDavid and force offence on his line out to Caggiula and Lucic – with Lucic’s (lack of) footspeed, this should become a hindrance to the Oilers.

Players to Watch

Edmonton

Connor McDavid is so good at doing Connor McDavid things. He’s a delight to watch, and his acceleration through the neutral zone will never not be a sight to behold. He does need to be more selfish with the puck, though. With the league lead in points (36), he’s only scored 11 goals. By comparison, Sidney Crosby has only played in 20 games (versus Connor’s 28) and has potted 17 goals thus far.

The Oilers revolving door on defence continues as Dillon Simpson is making his NHL debut tonight, replacing Mark Fayne who has been placed on IR.

Philadelphia

Wayne Simmonds is having something of a resurgence. He’s leading the Flyers in scoring (15-11-26) and has played a huge role in the Flyers’ win streak. I’ve always liked the way that Simmonds plays, and if there was a way to get him to Edmonton, I’d definitely explore that option.

Lineups

Edmonton

Milan Lucic – Connor McDavid – Drake Caggiula

Patrick Maroon – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Benoit Pouliot – Leon Draisaitl – Jesse Puljujarvi

Matt Hendricks – Mark Letestu – Zack Kassian

Kris Russell – Adam Larsson

Andrej Sekera – Matt Benning

Oscar Klefbom – Dillon Simpson

Jonas Gustavsson

Philadelphia

Michael Raffl – Claude Giroux – Jakub Voracek

Travis Konecny – Brayden Schenn – Wayne Simmonds

Taylor Leier – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Dale Weise

Chris VandeVelde – Nick Cousins – Roman Lyubimov

Ivan Provorov – Andrew MacDonald

Mark Streit – Radko Gudas

Brandon Manning – Shayne Gostisbehere

Steve Mason

Notes

The Oilers are in the middle of a pretty critical stretch, and are coming into tonight’s game on a two-game losing streak. This is a game they can win, and probably should. With another game tomorrow in Minnesota, there is no real time to fix any of the issues that may crop up in tonight’s game, so hopefully they come away with the two points without giving one up.

OILERS RIG LIVE4MS

Our 4th annual fundraiser for the MS Society of Alberta is set for January 21, 2017 at The Pint Downtown, at 6:30pm

It’s a Battle of Alberta on HNIC, with the Oilers in Calgary. Puck drop is 8:00pm.

We’ll have a great lineup of silent auction items, as well as raffles throughout the night. We might even have tshirts for sale (but we’ll let you know as we get closer to the date).

All proceeds from the fundraiser go to the MS Society of Alberta.

See you there!