Oilers Gameday – @ Ducks

The Oilers conclude their mini three-game road trip and finish off the second half of a back-to-back set tonight in Anaheim for the second meeting of the season with their new Pacific division rival. The Ducks are hot right now, and have been one of the best teams in the league since game one of the season.

Edmonton, meanwhile, was supposed to finally break through, but instead the Oilers have crashed and burned in a way no one saw coming. This was magnified in last night’s embarrassing 5-1 loss to San Jose.

Oilers forwards Mark Arcobello and Ryan Jones will draw back into the lineup, while forward Jordan Eberle will take the night off due to a knee injury. The team recalled defender Brad Hunt, and he is expected to draw in for rookie Martin Marincin. Philip Larsen was placed on the IR earlier this afternoon.

Ilya Bryzgalov, who started the last meeting, will get the nod tonight against Jonas Hiller, who beat Edmonton in December.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers opened up 2014 looking like the team that played all of 2013. New year, same losing. The Oilers were absolutely dominated by the San Jose Sharks. Devan Dubnyk was sensational in the first period, keeping Edmonton afloat. It wouldn’t last however, as the Sharks simply kept pelting DD.

Brent Burns would be left open in front to deposit the first goal at 14:37, while Patrick Marleau would score thanks to a terrible Yakupov giveaway about 40 seconds later.

The second period wasn’t much better, as Bracken Kearns and Logan Couture would make Edmonton look silly before the mid-way mark of the period. Nail Yakupov would make it a 4-1 game late in the second, but it didn’t matter. San Jose got a Joe Pavelski goal late to go up 5-1, while Edmonton essentially rolled over and died, losing 5-1.

Anaheim: The Ducks have been off since New Year’s eve, when they knocked off the Sharks at the Honda Center. Jonas Hiller made 17 first period saves, while Kyle Palmieri would take advantage and score a goal to give the Ducks an unlikely lead after one.

Dan Boyle would tie the game seconds into the second frame, but the Ducks would retake the lead thanks to a Francois Beauchemin blast. Nick Bonino and Matt Beleskey would add markers as well, and the Ducks would have a commanding 4-1 lead after two.

Ryan Getzlaf and Andrew Cogliano would put it out of reach in the third, and outside of a Bracken Kearns goals, Jonas Hiller would shut-down the Sharks attempts at a rally. The effort would result in a big 6-3 victory for Anaheim, continuing what has been a breakthrough season.

Last Meeting:

The Ducks and Oilers met at the pond in Anaheim back on December 15th. Ilya Bryzgalov was sensational, keeping Edmonton within striking distance. Thanks to Bryz, the Oilers were able to get an early lead thanks to a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins goal, a tip-in off a Taylor Hall shot.

Nick Bonino would be left wide-open in front to make it a tie game five minutes later however, and the frame would end tied at one.

The Ducks would grab a lead at the 15:24 mark of the second as Teemu Selanne would be left open in the slot and fire a shot past Bryz. Edmonton would tie it with a Sam Gagner goal half-way through the third, but a major defensive breakdown would lead to a Dustin Penner goal with less than four minutes to go. Penner’s tally would be the difference, as the Ducks would win 3-2.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Defender Brad Hunt had a very good training camp for the Oilers this September. He was able to move the puck, brought some jump to the Oilers blue-line, and brought a well liked offensive aspect to the table. Hunt was supposed to be a minor-league option, but tonight gets a shot as an NHL’er. I’m not sure how big of an impact he’ll have, but he’s worth watching.

Anaheim: Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf is going to be on Canada’s Olympic team, and is one of the best in the game today. Getzlaf is a big body, with extremely good offensive skills and a responsible defensive game. He’s tough and physical too, and is tough to beat off the puck. The Oilers struggle against these centers, especially Getzlaf, and I suspect that continues tonight.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – David Perron

Nail Yakupov – Mark Arcobello – Sam Gagner

Ryan Smyth – Boyd Gordon – Ales Hemsky

Luke Gazdic – Anton Lander – Ryan Jones

Andrew Ference – Justin Schultz

Anon Belov – Jeff Petry

Nick Schultz – Brad Hunt

Ilya Bryzgalov

Anaheim Ducks Lines:

Jakob Silfverberg – Ryan Getzlaf – Corey Perry

Patrick Maroon – Mathieu Perreault – Teemu Selanne

Daniel Winnik – Saku Koivu – Andrew Cogliano

Matt Beleskey – Nick Bonino – Kyle Palmieri

Francois Beauchemin – Hampus Lindholm

Cam Fowler – Ben Lovejoy

Sami Vatanen – Bryan Allen

Jonas Hiller