Oilers Gameday – @ Bruins

The Oilers open a four game road trip this afternoon in the best town the United States has to offer. Yes, I’m a little biased because Boston is my hometown after all! The Oilers and Bruins will hook up for the first time in the Bean since November 2011, and for the second time this season. Boston won the first meeting back in December at Rexall.

The Oilers have won three in a row for the second time all year, and look for their first four game win streak of the year today (sad I know). Defender Andrew Ference, who has missed the last three, is expected to return from his head injury, while forwards Ales Hemsky (hand) and Matt Hendricks (head) are both questionable.

Defender Matt Fraser, who was acquired from Toronto on Friday, will make his Oilers debut. Defender Philip Larsen was placed on the IR yesterday to make room for Fraser.

The Bruins got Chris Kelly back this past Tuesday night, and he’ll be in the lineup again today. The team will be missing Dennis Seidenberg, who tore his ACL in December. The Bruins, outside of Seidenberg, are relatively healthy right now.

Professor Ben Scrivens, who made FIFTY-NINE saves Wednesday night starts for Edmonton, while Tuukka Rask goes for Boston.

Last Games:

Edmonton: You could argue that the last time Edmonton hit the ice, Wednesday night against the Sharks, was their worst performance of the year. The Sharks absolutely dominated the Oilers all 60 minutes, but somehow, it didn’t matter. Even with San Jose out-shooting Edmonton 20-7 (!), the Sharks were down 1-0 after one thanks to a Justin Schultz goal.

San Jose out-shot the Oilers 22-9 in the second, but Ben Scrivens stopped all 22 shots, keeping it 1-0 after 40. Taylor Hall would score on a beautiful shot off an Eberle feed 6:10 into the third, while Jordan Eberle would add a PP marker in the final two minutes.

Scrivens would make 17 more saves in the third, racking up an NHL record 59 saves in his shut-out of the Sharks, gifting Edmonton with a 3-0 victory, their third in a row.

Boston: The Bruins came back down to earth on Thursday night against their rivals from Montreal. The Habs got going early, as Alexei Emelin would beat Rask with a long shot for his first of the year. Max Pacioretty would rip home a shot 14:32 in, while Dougie Hamilton would tip one home to get the B’s within one just over a minute later.

In the second, Brian Gionta would tip-home a Plekanec shot on the PP 11:54 in, giving the Habs a 3-1 lead and chasing Rask from the game. Moments later, Danny Briere would come in alone on a breakaway and beat back-up goalie Chad Johnson to put the Habs up by three heading into the third.

Boston would get a few chances, but couldn’t solve Peter Budaj, the surprise starter. The result was a very disappointing 4-1 loss on home ice for the B’s, which snapped a decent winning streak for them. It also put them at 0-2 against their rivals this season.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and B’s last met up in Edmonton back on December 13th. The Bruins were the much better team in the first, out-shooting the Oilers and out-scoring them. Dennis Seidenberg scored a fluke goal from center ice 10:25 in, while Jarome Iginla blasted one home at the 16:11 mark.

Brad Marchand would make it 3-0 with a short-handed breakaway two minutes after Iginla’s goal, ending Devan Dubnyk’s night. Jason Labarbera would come in for relief, stopping all ten Bruin shots in the second. The Oilers, in that second, fought back big time. David Perron scored with a floating shot at the 3:25 mark, and added a second at the 17:27 mark on a wrap-around.

In the third, the Oilers dominated, out-shooting the B’s 13-3. The Oilers would get a few golden chances, including a Taylor Hall shot off the post in the final two minutes. That said, Chad Johnson would stand strong and stop everything thrown his way, sealing Boston’s 3-2 road victory.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: What will he do for an encore?!?!?! Professor Ben Scrivens from Cornell University has become a celebrity in Edmonton thanks to his tremendous 59-save shut-out on Wednesday. Common knowledge would suggest a let-down in his next outing, but will that be the case? I’m honestly very interested to see what he can do for an encore today, and you should be too! Also, Andrew Ference in his return to Boston is worth watching, especially the expected standing O.

Boston: Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron is arguably the best defensive forward in the game today. He’s smart, has offensive skills, and is a tremendously aware defensive player. He’s the perfect three-zone player, and every team would kill to have him. I’d imagine the B’s match him up on the RNH line today, and that will be worth watching.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

David Perron – Sam Gagner – Nail Yakupov

Matt Hendricks – Boyd Gordon – Ales Hemsky

Luke Gazdic – Ryan Smyth – Jesse Joensuu

Andrew Ference – Justin Schultz

Martin Marincin – Jeff Petry

Matt Fraser – Anton Belov

Ben Scrivens

Boston Bruins Lines:

Milan Lucic – David Krejci – Jarome Iginla

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Riley Smith

Carl Soderberg – Chris Kelly – Loui Eriksson

Daniel Paille – Greg Campbell – Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara – Torey Krug

Johnny Boychuk – Adam McQuaid

Matt Bartkowski – Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask