Minnesota (30-13-3) at Edmonton (28-18-3)
That’s 5 straight wins for the Oilers since Coach Woodcroft has taken over. Many players have expressed that there exists a greater level of detail into the game plan. Many analysts and armchair pundits have mentioned a more committed team game, starting with notably strong defensive performances from McDavid and Draisaitl. At the very least, while the results have been sterling it’s hard not to be swept up in the positivity of it all. Until a loss occurs it will be almost impossible to start pondering the shortcomings that might still exist.
Of course Mike Smith rounding into form has been a boon, and both Koskinen and Skinner playing well in wins over this stretch has been foundational to the team stacking wins and building momentum. The team playing much better defence in front of them has helped as well. It’s been a near perfect set of circumstances, and for now it seems as though Woodcroft has been pushing all the right buttons.
The stretch of schedule immediately ahead will be as tough a test as possible with the likes of Carolina, Florida, and Tampa Bay on an eastern road trip, but it all starts tonight in hosting a very good Minnesota Wild team.
Despite losing their past 2 games, the Wild are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games and are turning in what might be their strongest regular season ever, or at least in recent memory. This might be surprising given that the Wild took a bold step in buying out both Suter and Parise this offseason, but the roster seems to have taken a step forward. They represent a big test for the re-energized Oilers as a high quality defensive team ahead in the standings.
Given Koskinen got the start yesterday we will see Mike Smith in goal for the Oilers, while the Wild counter with Kaapo Kahkonen.
KEYS TO THE GAME
Edmonton:
- Start on time. The Oilers usually give up the first goal, but it seems particularly ill advised against a team as committed to defence as the Wild. Naturally the Oilers have the skill to make something out of nothing at any point, but it might be a bit risky to rely on that tonight.
- Commit to defence. Similarly, the Wild would be happy to counter punch when the Oilers attack gets over extended. Starting with a tight team game the Oilers need to trust that they will prevail rather than chasing offence.
Minnesota:
- Forecheck. The best chance for the Wild to slow down an increasingly deep Oilers attack is to create turnovers off attempted breakouts and hem the Oilers into their own zone.
EXPECTED LINEUPS
Edmonton:
Hyman — McDavid — Yamamoto
Kane — Draisaitl — McLeod
Foegele — Nugent-Hopkins — Ryan
Benson — xxxxx — Perlini
Nurse — Bouchard
Lagesson — Ceci
Niemelainen — Barrie
Broberg — xxxxx
Smith
Koskinen
Minnesota: Dumba is day-to-day
Kaprizov — Hartman — Zuccarello
Fiala — Gaudreau — Boldy
Greenway — Eriksson-Ek — Foligno
Dewar — Bjugstad — Duhaime
Goligoski — Spurgeon
Brodin — Kulikov
Merrill — Addison
Kahkonen
Talbot
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Edmonton:
McLeod shouldn’t be expected to be quite as good as Puljujarvi, but he’s filled in admirably for at least one game. With the rest of the top 9 in a very strong swing of play, and the pair of Benson and Perlini switching in and out with McDavid and Draisaitl it’s a good opportunity to keep as much in place with a key player like Puljujarvi missing.
Likewise, there’s been a great deal of mixing and matching with the defence, led of course by Nurse. With some of the changes we’ve seen under Woodcroft the blueline as a whole seems to be much more solid, insulated, and within itself. At this point it would be difficult to imagine who would be the first to come out of the lineup, but it says something that the coaching staff does not seem to be in a hurry to move Broberg back to the minors.
Minnesota:
The Wild are an interesting team to contrast against the Oilers, in part due to the disparity of their centre groups. Similar to the (pre-Eichel) Golden Knights, most would say that the Wild are a great team despite a less-than-elite centre group, which isn’t to say that there are not good centres on the team.
The top two lines are a clear illustration of this reality. Kaprizov is a star, the team’s best forward. Zuccarello is a skilled winger in his own right as well. Hartman plays a very different style than his wingers, an aggressive and physical forward who has completely taken advantage of his top line deployment. He has already equaled his career mark of 19 goals, and set a new career high in points with 35. In his 3rd season with the Wild, not only is this level of production a surprise, but so too is his playing centre at all.
The second line is quite similar. Fiala is a quality offensive winger, while Boldy is looking very strong in his rookie season. It seems like it might not be long until he is the second best winger on the team, behind Kaprizov. Frederic Gaudreau had some great performances as a depth centre in Nashville before having an incredible season with Pittsburgh last year. He’s continued to build on that strong play in an even bigger role. He is not the most skilled by any means, but he’s a big body who can skate and plays with a visible urgency.
Back to the earliest days of the franchise’s existence the Wild’s strength has been team defence, and this third line certainly lives up to that reputation. Greenway and Eriksson-Ek have been mainstays on a line together since last season and have truly come into their own during that time. Alongside is another big body in Foligno forming a trio that are all quite strong, hard working, and defensively focused. They could easily be in the running for the top checking lines in the league.
Spurgeon and Brodin are very good defenders and that will greatly help their veteran puck moving partners. Addison is a young player with a lot of pedigree and could grow into a high quality offensive option missing with Dumba out of the lineup.
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