Oilers Gameday – @ Buffalo: Connor vs. Jack

The Oilers are in Buffalo tonight to take on Jack Eichel and the Sabres. Since the All-Star break, the 2015 second overall draft pick has amassed 7 points (1G, 6A) in 13 games, while Connor McDavid is scoring at a blistering 1.21 points per game pace (5G, 12 A in 14 games). When asked about the first match-up between himself and Connor McDavid, Eichel replied “We’re playing the Edmonton Oilers, not McDavid.”

Salty Eichel is the best Eichel.

Also, in case you’ve forgotten: Connor’s better, y’all.

Last Game

We won! The Oilers scored more than one goal for the first time in four games, and they won! It was a solid effort overall, and it was nice to see that they built on the good work they put into their games against Anaheim and Los Angeles last week.

During that game against the Islanders, Anton Lander scored his first goal in a million years, and I actually saw the albatross around his neck come back to life and fly away. It gave the Oilers the life they needed, and they kept pressing. It was a fairly complete team effort, and I remember being impressed that they didn’t let the Islanders run roughshod on Rexall ice.

Keys to the Game

• Keep playing the way they’ve been playing – it’s been nice to watch three games in a row where there’s been potential for the Oilers to win, in regulation, no less.
• It’ll be interesting with a couple new guys in the lineup tonight, but I think that having Zack Kassian up with Taylor Hall and Leon Draisaitl will be good for all three of them, and Yakupov being teamed with Connor again will probably mean good things for Yak.
• Stay out of the box. This one will be tough because the Oilers seem to get called for a bunch of things that aren’t even penalties, so it’s hard to know what will and won’t result in a penalty.
• Keep Jack Eichel contained. The Sabres’ top line is pretty good (Evander Kane, Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart), so hopefully the new-look Oilers are up for the task.

Players to Watch

After he posted 6 shots on goal and came away with an assist on Sunday, why would I tell you to watch anyone other than Taylor Hall? (You should be used to this by now.)

I’m looking forward to seeing what the new Adams – Cracknell and Pardy – can do out there. Hopefully these two pickups improve the team.

Projected Lineups

Edmonton

Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Zack Kassian

Nail Yakupov – Connor McDavid – Jordan Eberle

Lauri Korpikoski – Mark Letestu – Iiro Pakarinen

Matt Hendricks – Anton Lander – Adam Cracknell

Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne

Adam Pardy – Brandon Davidson

Darnell Nurse – Adam Clendening

Cam Tal-Bot

Buffalo

Evander Kane – Jack Eichel – Sam Reinhart

Marcus Foligno – Johan Larsson – Brian Gionta

Matt Moulson – David Legwand – Nicolas Deslauriers

Cal O’Reilly – Daniel Catenacci – Zemgus Girgensons

Josh Gorges – Rasmus Ristolainen

Jake McCabe – Sach Bogozian

Carlo Colaiacovo – Mark Pysyk

Robin Lehner

Final Thoughts

We all know by now that Justin Schultz has moved on to greener pastures in Pittsburgh, and I noticed that the last three games without him in the lineup were less stressful to watch. I wasn’t worried that something terrible would happen in the defensive zone that would subsequently end up in the back of the net. That’s a strange feeling. I don’t know much about new D-man Adam Pardy, but hopefully he can provide some stability back there. Are the Oilers defensive woes solved? Not by a long shot, but this should be a decent patch to get us to the end of the season. It’s no secret that the Oilers need D, but until the off-season they’re just going to have to make due.