After splitting a four game home-stand evenly at 2-2-0, the Oilers hit the road for a four game trip tonight that takes them to St. Louis to battle the Blues in the second of three meetings between the teams on the season. This is the second and final meeting in St. Louis for the teams, who last met in late November.
Edmonton enters tonight healthy, while the Blues have F Chris Porter currently on the IR, their only injured player.
Ben Scrivens is expected to start for Edmonton, while Brian Elliot will likely get the go for the Blues, who have won four in a row.
Last Games:
Edmonton: The Oilers hosted the surging Florida Panthers on Sunday night at Rexall Place. Florida came out flying, dominating the first 15 minutes and opening the scoring with a Jimmy Hayes goal 4:01 into the frame, the lone goal of the period.
The Oilers would get the ship rolling in the second, putting pressure on Roberto Luongo and tying the game with a Jordan Eberle marker 4:07 in. The Panthers would answer right back however, as Brian Campbell would shoot a puck that ended up beating Scrivens somehow, someway.
The third period was back and forth, as Edmonton pressed for the tie, but made a few too many mistakes. Tomas Kopecky capitalized 5:08 into the period, but Edmonton quickly responded with a Benoit Pouliot goal moments later. However, after a turnover, Sean Bergenheim beat Scrivens to put the Panthers up 4-2 and seal the game.
St. Louis: The Blues last played Saturday, hosting the Hurricanes in a surprisingly good hockey game. The Canes got going early, as Victor Rask opened the scoring just two minutes in. Alex Steen scored four minutes later, but the Canes snagged a pair compliments of Jeff Skinner and Eric Staal to go up 3-1 after twenty minutes.
The Blues fired back in the middle frame, as Jaden Schwartz and Patrik Berglund evened things up within the first five minutes. The Canes dug back in however, and retook the lead with a Riley Nash goal in the final five minutes of the frame.
The Blues took over in the third, and tied things up with a Vlad Tarasenko goal to force overtime. OT Solved nothing however, and a shootout was required, where the Blues would get a TJ Oshie goal in the first round to win the game 5-4.
Last Meeting:
The Oilers and Blues last met up in late November in St. Louis in what was a game that the Blues dominated on the shot clock and chance wise. TJ Oshie scored 11:35 into the game to give St. Louis a well deserved lead, but it wouldn’t last as long as St. Louis would have liked.
David Perron and Nikita Nikitin converted Edmonton’s two best chances of the second to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes, leading to an exciting final 20. The Blues tied things up just 31 seconds in with a Kevin Shattenkirk goal, but Edmonton responded with a Mark Arcobello goal just over three minutes later.
The Blues pushed however, and got a goal from Alex Pietrangelo to send things to overtime, where Vlad Tarasenko would score with just 40 seconds left to give the Blues a 4-3 victory.
Keys To The Game:
Edmonton: A full sixty minutes will be needed tonight. The Blues are one of the best teams in the NHL, and are miles ahead of Edmonton. The Oilers will need to play mistake free hockey tonight and bring their best effort to just have a chance here. Play a full 60 and you might be able to steal two points here.
St. Louis: Physical play is key tonight. The Blues are a big and heavy team that can control a game with their size. Edmonton struggles to do anything against big teams, and if the Blues play physical, they should dominate their way to two more points tonight.
Players To Watch:
Edmonton: Oilers F Jordan Eberle has been on fire recently, scoring points in the team’s last five games. Tonight, Eberle gets a real test against a very strong St. Louis team that can shut-down some of the best scorers in the game. I’ll be keeping an eye on the confident Eberle to see if he can handle a big and tough opponent.
St. Louis: I don’t think it’s crazy to suggest that Vlad Tarasenko is the best goal scorer the Blues have had since the Hull days. This kid is stellar, and is on pace for 50 goals. His 23 this season are already a career high, and he has an ability to just make things happen. He’s beyond talented, and should be watched closely tonight.
Quick Hits:
Jordan Eberle has recorded a point in five straight games for Edmonton, his longest streak of the season. This game opens up a four game road trip for Edmonton that will take them to Tampa Bay on Thursday, Florida on Saturday and Washington on Tuesday of next week. The Oilers have one All-Star selection, F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
The Lines:
Edmonton Oilers Lines:
Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
Benoit Pouliot – Derek Roy – Nail Yakupov
Matt Fraser – Anton Lander – Teddy Purcell
Matt Hendricks – Boyd Gordon – Rob Klinkhammer
Nikita Nikitin – Mark Fayne
Andrew Ference – Justin Schultz
Oscar Klefbom – Jeff Petry
Ben Scrivens
St. Louis Blues Lines:
Alex Steen – David Backes – T.J. Oshie
Jaden Schwartz – Jori Lehtera – Vladimir Tarasenko
Dmitrij Jaskin – Paul Stastny – Patrik Berglund
Steve Ott – Maxim Lapierre – Ryan Reaves
Jay Bouwmeester – Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson – Kevin Shattenkirk
Barrett Jackman – Chris Butler
Brian Elliot
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