Oilers Gameday – @ Devils

The Oilers return to the ice tonight following an embarrassing start to their road trip to battle the New Jersey Devils in the second and final meeting between the sides this year. Edmonton is in game number two of a six game trip, while the Devils return from a brief one game road trip.

Oilers F Taylor Hall was sent home on Sunday and will likely miss the rest of the road trip. Also out tonight for Edmonton are F Benoit Pouliot and D Nikita Nikitin. The Devils, meanwhile, will be minus a few key players. F’s Stephen Gionta and Ryane Clowe, as well as D’s Bryce Salvador and Damon Severson are all on the IR.

Ben Scrivens will return to the net tonight for Edmonton, while Cory Schneider gets the start for New Jersey.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers were in Toronto on Saturday night for what might have been their rock-bottom loss in this never ending rebuild. The sides played an even first period, with shots being 9-8 for the Leafs, but no one could find the back of the net.

The middle frame was a little different. Even thought Edmonton out-shot Toronto 12-11, the Leafs pushed the pace, and opened the scoring up in a huge way. Richard Panik put home a weak shot 8:56 in, while Phil Kessel and Morgan Rielly each added insurance markers shortly after to put the Leafs up 3-0 after two.

Mike Santorelli and Peter Holland would rub salt in the wound in the third period, while Luke Gazdic would break the shut-out with only two seconds remaining. It meant nothing for Edmonton however, as the Leafs won 5-1.

New Jersey: New Jersey traveled north to Montreal for a game on Saturday that ended up being a total nightmare for the Devils. New Jersey opened the scoring 1:33 in as Mike Cammalleri tipped home a Peter Harrold shot, but it was all Habs after that point.

Montreal would score three power-play goals in the middle frame, compliments Andrei Markov, Lars Eller and Tomas Plekanec to take the lead and add insurance, while Carey Price stopped all nine Devil shots.

Jersey would get within one 3:01 into the third with a Jacob Josefson goal, but Montreal would put things away with three quick goals, coming from Plekanec, and Dale Weise, who scored a pair. Price would stand strong to give the Habs the 6-2 victory.

Last Meeting:

Edmonton and New Jersey met back in November at Rexall Place in a pretty boring tilt. Edmonton played a solid first period, out-shooting Jersey 8-4, but could solve Schneider. The middle frame saw the Devils come alive, as both Adam Henrique and Tuomo Ruutu would score to give New Jersey a lead that they would simple never lose.

Edmonton fought in the third, firing 13 shots on net, but they just couldn’t solve Cory Schneider, who had to stop 29 shots to shut the Oilers out and seal the 2-0 win for his team.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: Being opportunistic is certainly a key for Edmonton. The Oilers are really struggling to get anything going with both Hall and Pouliot out of the lineup, meaning they’ll need to convert at a high rate. If the Oilers can find a way to make their few chances count, then they’ll be in this game.

New Jersey: The Devils have to put puck on net tonight, no debate, no doubt. The Devils have some solid snipers, and Edmonton has a weak defense and some really bad goaltending. If New Jersey tests that and fires a ton of pucks on net, something they are capable of, then they’ll win this game.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Easy, G Ben Scrivens. Scrivens returns to the net tonight, and has yet to win a game on the road all season long. Scrivens has played some solid hockey this season, but overall he has really struggled, clocking in with one of the worst SV %’s in the NHL. I’ll be watching him tonight to see if he can get something going.

New Jersey: F Adam Henrique hasn’t quite been as good as his magical 2011-12 campaign, but he’s still a solid player for this Devil team. Henrique gives New Jersey a player that not only puts up points, but also does all the little things right and is strong defensively. I’ll be watching him closely tonight.

Quick Hits:

The Oilers are in game two of a six game road trip, and in the first half of a back-to-back set that will take them to Long Island on Tuesday night. Edmonton lost their last trip to New Jersey last February, a 2-1 OT decision. The Devils have won two out of the last three meetings between the sides.

Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Teddy Purcell – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Matt Fraser – Derek Roy – Nail Yakupov

Matt Hendricks – Boyd Gordon – Rob Klinkhammer

Luke Gazdic – Anton Lander – Iiro Pakarinen

Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz

Andrew Ference – Jeff Petry

Martin Marincin – Mark Fayne

Ben Scrivens

New Jersey Devils Lines:

Adam Henrique – Scott Gomez – Steve Bernier

Dainius Zubrus – Mike Cammalleri – Jaromir Jagr

Patrik Elias – Travis Zajac – Martin Havlat

Tuomo Ruutu – Jacob Josefson – Jordin Tootoo

Andy Greene – Adam Larsson

Jon Merrill – Marek Zidlicky

Mark Fraser – Peter Harrold

Cory Schneider