Oilers Preseason Gameday – @ Vancouver

After a 7-4 victory last night in Calgary, the Oilers return to the ice on the Pacific coast tonight against the Canucks in preseason game two. We can expect a completely different, and more veteran, lineup from the group that hung seven on the Flames last night in Calgary.

Oiler fans everywhere can watch tonight as this game will air on Sportsnet in Canada and be available on NHL Gamecenter online. For those of you outside of Canada, tonight’s game will be aired on NHL Network (joined in progress).

Last Time Out:

Highlights

The Oilers went with a young group last night that was dotted with AHL veterans and roster hopefuls like Kevin Gravel and Alex Chiasson. The team looked shaky early, but got itself together and ended up winning the opener pretty easily.

Kailer Yamamoto really impressed me, scoring twice and adding an assist. I thought he looked disinterested at times in the rookie games, but he was wired and ready to roll last night. That’s the kind of performance he really needed. I still don’t think Ryan McLeod makes the team, but boy does he look good. McLeod is way ahead of where I thought he would be at this time, and did well centering Edmonton’s top line last night. Nice to see him get rewarded with two assists in 22:21 of ice time.

Tyler Benson (0-2-2) and Patrick Russell (2-0-2) stood out for me as well last night up front. I don’t think Benson makes the final roster, but he also looks further ahead than I first thought and is likely going to see some NHL time at some point this season. Russell, remember, went deep into camp last year and I think has a chance to make this club with a good preseason.

Defensively, I was really impressed with Evan Bouchard. He snuck into the rush perfectly to score Edmonton’s first goal, and I thought he played well in his debut. Still room to grow, but there were things I liked about his game. Ethan Bear’s one-timer was a thing of beauty. His offensive skills are NHL ready, but he still needs to work on coverage.

Mikko Koskinen was shaky, but that’s not overly surprising in his first NHL action since 2010-11. I suspect, as he adjusts to the North American ice, he’ll improve.

The Lineups:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Jujhar Khaira – Ryan Strome – Jesse Puljujarvi
Drake Caggiula – Kyle Brodziak – Zack Kassian
Ostap Safin – Cooper Marody – Ty Rattie
Tyler Benson – Ryan McLeod – Kailer Yamamoto

Jason Garrison – Matt Benning
Caleb Jones – Kris Russell
Keegan Lowe – Jakub Jerabek

Cam Talbot
Al Montoya

William Lagesson is expected to be the extra tonight for Edmonton, who is dressing a more veteran team. That said, we won’t see either of the top two lines except Ty Rattie, who interestingly draws in with Safin and Marody. I wonder if this is a message to Rattie that top-line minutes aren’t exactly a given, although he had been skating on that line to start camp.

The Benson-McLeod-Yamamoto line gets another turn tonight, which I think is a great sign for all three players. Benson and Yamamoto have a legit chance to make the team and they dazzled last night. Smoke is starting to form around McLeod, who is making a name for himself in his first Oiler camp. A good outing tonight could earn him more looks this preseason.

We’ll get our first look at the expected third and fourth lines in this one. I’m interested to see what Khaira-Strome-Puljujarvi can do. Strome and Khaira looked good together late in the 2017-18 season.

We’ll get our first look at Jakub Jerabek tonight, who steps in with top call-up option Keegan Lowe. Caleb Jones, who had a great rookie camp, gets the nod tonight as well. I’ll be really interested in seeing how both of these players look in this one.

Cam Talbot gets the start, and I think this is an important game for him. It doesn’t mean anything in the standings, but it would be huge for the Oilers to have Talbot ready to roll from the start. A strong preseason could give him the confidence needed to have the strong October this club absolutely needs from him.

Vancouver Canucks Lines:

The Canucks made their first real round of cuts yesterday, sending out ten players. Nine of them will head to training camp with the AHL’s Utica Comets. Tonight, the Canucks will dress a veteran squad.

The team hasn’t released lines, but we’ll be getting a look at some players we expect to see come opening night. Loui Eriksson, Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi, Sam Gagner, Markus Granlund and newcomer Tim Schaller are among the veterans that will dress up front.

The most interesting Canuck forwards to watch? Top prospects Elias Pettersson and Johathan Dahlen, will get the nod for Vancouver tonight in their NHL preseason debuts.

Defensively, veterans Chris Tanev, Ben Hutton, Troy Stetcher and Michael Del Zotto will all draw into the lineup, while veteran goalie Anders Nilsson is expected to get the start. We’ll get a look at prospect goalie Michael DiPietro, as he’s expected to backup and see some action late in this contest.

Enjoy the game!