Oilers Gameday – @ Blue Jackets

The Oilers make a stop in Columbus tonight for the second half of back-to-back games. It’ll be the lone visit for Edmonton to Columbus on the season, and the final meeting between the teams this season. The sides met last week in Edmonton in what turned into a very lopsided game.

Oilers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov made his first start with the team on Thursday night, stopping 33 saves en route to a shut-out victory. As a result, DJ Bryzzy Bryz will start again tonight. He will battle fellow Russian Sergei Bobrovsky, who was his teammate in Philadelphia back in 2011-12.

The team inserted Ryan Jones, Mark Arcobello and Denis Grebeshkov back in the lineup last night and ended up with a successful result. Thanks to the results, the trio is expected to remain in the lineup tonight for Edmonton. Arcobello and Jones gave the fourth line a totally different look, while Grebeshkov had some terrific outlet passes.

The Jackets beat Toronto 6-0 on Monday night, then got smacked by Nashville 4-0 on Wednesday. The Jackets have been arguably the most inconsistent team in hockey, and have been struggling as of late. They’ll ask last year’s Vezina winner to stop the bleeding tonight.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers started off a three-game road trip last night in Nashville against the Preds. The first period was a defensive battle which saw both goalies repel all shots against them. Edmonton had the best chance of the period, but couldn’t bury it.

In the second period, the teams would play four-on-four about five minutes in as Paul Gaustad and David Perron would both take unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. During the four-on-four stretch, Jeff Petry would toss a puck towards the net which Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would tip home. Just 51 seconds later, Sam Gagner would spring Taylor Hall in for a goal to put the Oil up 2-0.

The Predators would fight back and dominate the third period, but Bryzgalov would shut the door, stopping everything that came his way. Jordan Eberle would score on the empty net and seal the 3-0 win for Edmonton, their fourth in five games. Bryzgalov would record the win.

Columbus: The Jackets were dominated on Wednesday night at home by the Nashville Predators. Matt Cullen would score mid-way through the first to give Nashville a lead they wouldn’t lose.

In the second, Mike Fisher and David Legwand would add tallies to make it 3-0, while every Columbus shot on net was repelled by rookie goalie Marek Mazanec. The Preds would add a fourth goal from Nick Spaling early in the third that would put the game away.

Mazanec would complete the shut-out, and the Jackets would fall 4-0 at home.

Last Meeting:

The teams last met ten days ago at Rexall Place in what was the most lopsided game all season for Edmonton. The Oilers dominated the Jackets, scoring the first goal just about two and a half minutes in on a Jordan Eberle tally. The Oilers made it 2-0 on the PP as David Perron banged home his own rebound, and Ryan Smyth would make it 3-0 on the PP by batting home a Sam Gagner pass.

In the second, David Perron would fire a shot from an odd angle to put the Oilers up four, which would lead to Bobrovsky getting the mercy pull. That didn’t stop Edmonton however, as Nail Yakupov would score on the power-play and Justin Schultz on the rush in quick succession to make it a six goal game.

In the third, Taylor Hall would score late on a break-away to put the Oilers up 7-0, a result that would hold. It was Devan Dubnyk’s fifth win of the season and his first shut-out of the year.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oilers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov stole the show last night in Nashville, and appears to have his sights set on totally re-doing his reputation. Bryz was sensational, stopping all 33 shots, last night and he gets the start tonight. He’s had decent success against Columbus in his career too. Put Bryz trying to prove everyone wrong together with all the other factors, and tonight could be another special night for number 80.

Columbus: Defender Fedor Tyutin isn’t the sexy name, and is far from a flashy player. That said, the veteran Russian defender is exactly what the Oilers lack right now. Keep an eye on this steady top-four defender, who will no doubt be tasked with trying to stop Edmonton’s kid line tonight. He’s the kind of guy this team lacks. Pay close attention to him and his style tonight.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lineup:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Nail Yakupov – Sam Gagner – Ales Hemsky

Ryan Smyth – Boyd Gordon – David Perron

Jesse Joensuu – Mark Arcobello – Ryan Jones

Andrew Ference – Jeff Petry

Anton Belov – Justin Schultz

Corey Potter – Denis Grebeshkov

Ilya Bryzgalov

Columbus Blue Jackets Lineup:

Boone Jenner – Ryan Johansen – Nick Foligno

Matt Calvert – Artem Anisimov – Cam Atkinson

R.J. Umberger – Mark Letestu – Blake Comeau

Sean Collins – Michael Chaput – Jack Skille

Jack Johnson – Fedor Tyutin

James Wisniewski – Ryan Murray

Tim Erixon – Dalton Prout

Sergei Bobrovsky