Oilers Gameday: @ Florida Panthers

It seems as though the Edmonton Oilers have had some recent troubles with getting off to a good start. In Chicago the team was absolutely worked in the first 20 and, in Tampa Bay, the team once again struggled to impose their will in the opening frame. However, what has been particularly interesting has been their tendency to pick up their game in the final two periods. Either coach McLellan is putting something in the water, or the Oilers aren’t prepared to start games. Whatever the problem may be, the team has to start showing up to play when the puck drops in the FIRST period, not the second.

While this has been a recent hurdle for the Oilers, it must not be forgotten that, before last nights dismal effort, the team was riding a 3-game winning streak. During that winning streak they were able to get their point total up to 72 on the season, leaving them in sole possession of second place in the Pacific Division. It also allowed them to cozy up to a 8 point cushion between them and the Calgary Flames.

As they head into Sunrise, Florida tonight to play the Panthers, the Oilers must look to lengthen the gap. They received good performances from the likes of Ilro Pakarinen and Oscar Klefbom. There were positives that occurred in last nights game that can be built on but, they will be in tough against a surging Panthers team.

Florida is riding their best stretch of hockey all season right now. Just recently coming off a historic 5-game winning streak at home, a franchise first, the Panthers seem to be firing on all cylinders. They received a major boost to their offense with the return of Jonathan Huberdeau, scoring 8pts in 6 games since he returned. The Panthers are 5-1-0 in their last 6 and, outside of Huberdeau’s obvious impact, other players such as Jaromir Jagr and Vincent Trocheck have been towing the load for the Florida offence.

You could make the case that Florida has recently been the Oilers favourite team of late, as they have knocked off teams like Anaheim and LA during their recent tear.

Oilers Key To The Game:

As mentioned above, the Oilers will have to come out of the gate flying if they wish to cool-down this red-hot Panthers team. If they find themselves down early, it may be hard for them to get back into the game, as secondary scoring has been an issue for the team in the second half of the season thus far. This means that if Connor McDavid isn’t going to be the catalyst for the offence tonight, then a Ryan-Nugent Hopkins or Jordan Eberle has to find an extra gear to get the team going.

James Reimer will be in the net tonight, he has a impressive record against Edmonton, and the team had some trouble with him in their previous meeting at Rogers Place, so a strong start will be vital if the Oilers want to reach win #33 on the season.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: If it weren’t for a ridiculous coaches challenge in yesterday’s matchup against the Lightning, Oilers defenceman, Oscar Klefbom would have had his 10th goal of the season. Klefbom has been a dangerous offensive threat for the Edmonton Oilers of late, and he will definitely be a factor in all 3 zones of the ice during tonight’s game in Sunrise.

Florida: Fresh off an exciting last minute victory against the St. Louis Blues, Panthers forward, Vincent Trochek will be someone to keep an eye on tonight. The 23-year-old has amassed 21 goals and 42pts on the season thus far, both lead the Panthers. In the last game between these two clubs, Trochek was able to snipe one past Talbot. He’ll be someone that the Oilers have their eye on all night.

Rosters:

Edmonton:

Patrick Maroon – Connor McDavid – Jordan Eberle

Milan Lucic – Leon Draisaitl – Anton Slepyshev

Drake Caggiula – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Zack Kassian

Jujhar Khaira – Mark Letestu – Ilro Pakarinen

Oscar Klefbom – Matt Benning

Andrej Sekera – Kris Russell

Brandon Russell – Eric Gryba

Cam Talbot

Florida:

Jonathan Huberdeau – Aleksander Barkov – Jaromir Jagr

Jussi Jokinen – Vincent Trochek – Reilly Smith

Michael Sgarbossa – Nick Bjugstad – Jonathan Marchessault

Shawn Thornton – Derek MacKenzie – Colton Sceviour

Keith Yandle – Aaron Ekblad

Michael Matheson – Jason Demers

Mark Pysyk – Alex Petrovic

James Reimer

Game Notes:

• Adam Larsson will not be in the lineup tonight after suffering a lower body injury during the third period of last night’s 4-1 loss to the Lightning. This has prompted Edmonton to insert Eric Gryba back in.
• Jujhar Khaira will draw back into the lineup tonight after missing 13 games due to a wrist injury. In fact, his last game was against the Florida Panthers on January 18th.
• Cam Talbot will return to the Oilers net tonight after taking a game off last night. His 30 wins are the most by an Oilers goalie since Tommy Salo in 2002.
• James Reimer will get the nod for the Panthers. Oiler fans may remember Reimer’s animated behaviour in the last meeting between these two teams. Under the belief that he had stopped Connor McDavid in overtime, expect a motivated Reimer tonight.
• The Oilers have won 7 in a row at the BB&T center, and will try to make it 8 tonight.
• Lastly, a win tonight will give the Oilers 76pts on the year, and a 2pt lead on the Anaheim Ducks.

Prediction:

The Panthers are rolling while the Oilers are on the back-end of a back-to-back. If the Oilers get a good start and are able to get ahead of the Panthers early, Cam Talbot should be able to hold down the fort. However, they have to be shooting early and to weather a tropical storm.

Oilers take this one but just barely, 3-2 in OT.

Oilers @ Panthers – 5:00 PM (MTN) on Sportsnet West

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