Oilers Gameday – @ Ducks

The Oilers make their final stop in California for the 2013-14 season tonight, concluding a set of back-to-back games in Anaheim against the Ducks. This will be the fourth meeting between the sides, which has Anaheim leading the season series two games to one. Edmonton won the last meeting 4-3 in OT back on Friday night. They’ll conclude their series Sunday night in Edmonton.

The Oilers enter tonight’s tilt coming in off of a hard fought 5-4 loss to the San Jose Sharks last night. The Oilers played a decent game overall, and saw their top-line fill the net four times. The other three lines struggled however, and the defense was poorer than it’s usual bad self. Edmonton will be without Andrew Ference, Jesse Joensuu, Ryan Jones, Nail Yakupov and Luke Gazdic tonight. Forward Steve Pinizzotto was recalled on an emergency basis earlier today.

The Ducks look to keep pace with the Sharks tonight in the chase for the Pacific division crown and the right to not play LA in the opening round of the playoffs. The Ducks come into tonight riding a two game winning streak, which saw them knock off Vancouver and Winnipeg. The Ducks currently boast a healthy roster, and will have veteran Teemu Selanne in the lineup for likely his final game against Edmonton.

Viktor Fasth gets the go for Edmonton against his former team, while Jonas Hiller is expected to start for the Ducks.

Key To The Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers played last night, and will likely be run down by the later stages against this big, tough, Ducks unit. For Edmonton to have a shot tonight, they’ll need to get an early start, and get on the Ducks in the first twenty minutes. If the Oilers can get a goal or two in the early going and build up a cushion, they could sneak away with two points tonight.

Anaheim: Rinse and repeat, like I said Friday, the Ducks need to play physical. Anaheim has two of the best big skilled players in the game in Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. If the Ducks use their size and their physical play tonight, which I suspect they will make a point, then they should come away with the two highly valuable points.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Has there been a quieter player than Anton Lander stat wise in the top-six recently for Edmonton? While Lander has put up decent possession numbers in his most recent call-up, he is still struggling to provide any offense. That said, Lander is doing a lot of little things right, and I’d keep an eye on him tonight, I get a feeling he’ll put one home.

Anaheim: Ducks forward Corey Perry has been kept quiet in all previous match-ups between these teams, but he’ll be remembering the frustration he felt on Friday in Edmonton. Perry is a darn good hockey player, and the Oilers struggle to contain those types of guys. I can easily see a goal for Perry tonight.

Gameday Prediction:

Edmonton proved me wrong by fighting hard and keeping it close last night, heck they nearly pulled it off. That said, the Ducks will be equally desperate tonight and will look to re-establish their home ice dominance. They’ll do that tonight, pulling away late in a 4-1 decision.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Anton Lander – Sam Gagner – David Perron

Ryan Smyth – Boyd Gordon – Matt Hendricks

Tyler Pitlick – Will Acton – Philip Larsen

Martin Marincin – Jeff Petry

Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz

Mark Fraser – Anton Belov

Viktor Fasth

Anaheim Ducks Lines:

Jakob Silfverberg – Ryan Getzlaf – Corey Perry

Patrick Maroon – Mathieu Perreault – Teemu Selanne

Andrew Cogliano – Saku Koivu – Daniel Winnik

Kyle Palmieri – Nick Bonino – Matt Belesky

Hampus Lindholm – Luca Sbisa

Stephane Robidas – Francois Beauchemin

Bryan Allen – Sami Vatanen

Jonas Hiller