Oilers Gameday vs Flames

The Oilers hit the ice tonight at Rogers Place, hosting the Calgary Flames in what could turn out to be a 4-point game down the road. The Flames have been riding a bit of a hot streak lately, but that came to an end last night against the New Jersey Devils who dominated the Flames the way the Oilers dominated the Devils on Thursday.

Since the Flames are coming off a game last night, and they had to travel, you’d assume the Oilers would win.

We’ll see.

Keys to the Game

Edmonton

• Capitalize on what should be a tired Flames team, and get the jump early.
• There still needs to be more scoring from other lines. The second line has been particularly quiet recently, and tonight would be a great game for them to break things wide open.

Calgary

• It’s Saturday, an HNIC game, and the Oilers have history working against them. Just avenge that loss to the Devils last night and come out less flat (it shouldn’t be hard).
• The Oilers seem to struggle when they can’t get the puck inside, so if the Flames can play them along the boards, there’s a chance.

Players to Watch

Edmonton

• Leon Draisaitl scored a beautiful goal on Thursday against the Devils, and I want it tattooed on my eyelids. I want to see more of that, and more from that top line because they are good, and the team is better when they play well.
• Connor’s pretty good at hockey things. I got to see him live on Thursday, and his speed leaves me in awe. It’s not just that he accelerates faster than pretty much everyone else, it’s that he skates to where the puck is going to be rather than to where it is, and that’s incredible to watch.

Calgary

• The 3M line (Tkachuk, Backlund and Frolik) is pretty good. I was sort of hoping for more from the last night against the Devils so I could see what all the fuss was about, but they got lulled to sleep. I feel like they’ll play better against the Oilers as the teams play similar, non-trappy styles.
• Troy Brouwer is back in the lineup for the second game after missing a bunch. Hope he doesn’t get hurt again.
• Deryk Engelland. I have my reasons.

Projected Lineups

Edmonton

Patrick Maroon – Connor McDavid – Leon Draisaitl

Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Milan Lucic – Drake Caggiula – Anton Slepyshev

Matt Hendricks – Mark Letestu – Zack Kassian

Andrej Sekera – Kris Russell

Oscar Klefbom – Matt Benning

Brandon Davidson – Eric Gryba

Cam TalBot

Calgary

Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Alex Chiasson

Matthew Tkachuk – Mikael Backlund – Michael Frolik

Kris Versteeg – Sam Bennett – Troy Brouwer

Lance Bouma – Matt Stajan – Garnet Hathaway

Mark Giordano – Dougie Hamilton

TJ Brodie – Dennins Wideman

Jykri Jokipakka – Deryk Engelland

Brian Elliot

Oilers Rig Live For MS

Our 4th Annual Oilers Rig Live Fundraiser for the MS Society of Alberta/NWT is NEXT WEEK.

We’ve got a 50/50 draw, a jersey raffle (signed Lucic and signed McDavid), a silent auction, and some tshirts for sale.

You’ll also get a chance to meet blogging royalty (and Avry), so come on down! We’d love to see you!

THE DETAILS

Where: The Pint Downtown (10125 109 Street)

When: January 21, 2017 at 6:30pm (puck drop at 8pm)

What: Silent Auction, 50/50 draw, jersey raffle, watch the Oilers beat the Flames

Who: YOU (and all your friends)