Oilers Gameday – @ New York Islanders

Three straight losses for the Edmonton Oilers, that’s what we are dealing with right now friends. The club played well against Ottawa on Sunday and had it’s chances both on Tuesday in Toronto and on Thursday against the Rangers. Tonight, across town in Brooklyn, the Oilers must snap this losing skid.

One of the things we talked about this summer was cutting the losing streaks from five game skids to two or three game skids. This is the first losing streak of the season for Edmonton, and it could erase their solid start if they don’t stop the bleeding soon. Against a struggling Islanders team, this is the perfect chance for the Oilers to break the skid and get back into the win column.

Cam Talbot will make his twelfth consecutive start for Edmonton, while Jaroslav Halak starts for the Islanders.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: Finishing chances early has been a big issue for the Oilers as of late. They had ample opportunity to get up on Ottawa last Sunday but failed to do so. Same situation on Thursday when they easily could have had three or four goals in the first period but walked out with only one. Edmonton needs to finish their chances early tonight. If they do, they’ll claim the two points in this one.

New York: Quick puck movement is key for the Islanders tonight. Edmonton will be down Kris Russell and will be playing a defender, likely Eric Gryba, far too high in the lineup. Quick movement around a below average defensive group should allow New York to generate a high number of scoring chances in this one.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Patrick Maroon scored on Thursday night, and tonight he gets reunited with the linemate he did the most damage with as an Oiler, Connor McDavid. I suspect the new look first line will have an impact tonight, and I expect Maroon to be in the middle of the action. There’s already chemistry on that top line, so I’m expecting a big game from them.

New York: Cal Clutterbuck is in a similar spot as Maroon tonight. He gets moved up to the first line to play with John Tavares as the Islanders shake things up. Clutterbuck is a feisty player who plays with a ton of energy and who does have some skill. I suspect he’ll be fired up tonight and puts in a solid effort.

The Lines:

The same twelve forwards will play tonight for Edmonton, but there are three new lines on the depth chart for the Oilers. Kris Russell, as per Bob Stauffer, is out tonight with an injury. That means Eric Gryba will draw into the lineup while Matthew Benning dresses in his third NHL game.

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jesse Puljujarvi

Patrick Maroon – Connor McDavid – Jordan Eberle

Milan Lucic – Leon Draisaitl – Zack Kassian

Anton Lander – Mark Letestu – Tyler Pitlick

Oscar Klefbom – Adam Larsson

Andrej Sekera – Eric Gryba

Darnell Nurse – Matthew Benning

Cam Talbot

New York Islanders Lines:

Josh Bailey – John Tavares – Cal Clutterbuck

Andrew Ladd – Ryan Strome – Anthony Beauvillier

Anders Lee – Brock Nelson – Jason Chimera

Nikolay Kulemin – Casey Cizikas – Shane Prince

Nick Leddy – Travis Hamonic

Thomas Hickey – Johnny Boychuk

Calvin De Hann – Dennis Seidenberg

Jaroslav Halak

Game Notes:

Jesse Puljujarvi will dress in his tenth game tonight, meaning the first year of his entry level deal will kick in. The way Todd McLellan has talked about him, and the promotion to the RNH line, suggests that Puljujarvi will be with the Oilers for the long haul. It’s fair to question this move, but I think Edmonton is doing the right thing here. JP has gotten stronger game-by-game to my eyes.

The Islanders will be dressing Anthony Beauvillier tonight in his tenth game, so he too will be staying with the big club. Ryan Pulock and Mikhail Grabovski are both injured and will not dress tonight for the Islanders, who lost to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday in the shootout.

Prediction:

The Oilers and Islanders are both coming off losses, but Edmonton’s was of the heartbreaking variety. The Oilers haven’t played that well lately and there seems to be a lack of urgency late in hockey games with them right now. When you combine that with the injury to Russell, things don’t look good tonight.

I’ll take the Islanders 3-1 in this game. Maroon scores the lone goal for Edmonton, while Tavares, Beauvillier and Chimera score for New York.