Oilers Gameday – @ Hurricanes

Following a great effort in Chicago on Friday, the Oilers move onto Carolina as they battle the Hurricanes for the second and final time this season. The Oilers have won three straight meetings against Carolina, including the battle at Rexall Place back in October. This is a rematch of the classic 2006 Stanley Cup Finals (cries, sips beverage).

The Oilers will be without F’s Taylor Hall, Iiro Pakarinen and Anton Lander, while D Nikita Nikitin is also injured. D Keith Aulie will once again be Edmonton’s healthy scratch for this hockey game. The Hurricanes enter this game with a completely healthy roster.

Richard Bachman makes his first start of the year for Edmonton, while Cam Ward gets the start for Carolina.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers played one of their best games on the season on Friday night when they visited the Chicago Blackhawks. Edmonton dominated the shot-clock all night, and actually out-played Chicago for lengthy stretches. The Oilers fired 18 shots on the net in the first period, and got rewarded with a Derek Roy goal 15:15 in.

The Oilers would play a solid second period as well, but Chicago turned up the heat and closed the gap in terms of play. Still, neither side found the back of the net until the final frame.

In the third period, Brent Seabrook would score 13:58 in to tie things up and send the game to overtime, which solved nothing. The sides headed to a shoot-out, where Antoine Vermette would score the lone goal to give the Hawks a 2-1 victory.

Carolina: The Hurricanes were at home on Friday night, as they hosted the Wild in a spirited tilt. Carolina actually dominated the play in this game, out-shooting Minnesota by a 38-19 margin. It mattered not, however, as the Wild converted on almost every chance.

Charlie Coyle opened the scoring eleven minutes into the game, giving the Wild their first lead of the game. Carolina would tie the game at the 15:18 mark of the second period with a Riley Nash goal, but it would be as close as the Canes would get.

Mikael Granlund and Zach Parise would each score in the third period to give the Wild a 3-1 victory. Devan Dubnyk stopped 37 shots to snag the win.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Hurricanes last met in October at Rexall Place in a back and forth affair. The Canes would out-shoot Edmonton 15-10 in the first period, but neither side could find the back of the net. The dam opened in the second however, as a plethora of goals came.

Jordan Eberle opened the scoring at the 9:44 mark, but Riley Nash would even things up moments later. Edmonton would regain the lead with a Jesse Joensuu goal at the 16:46 mark, but again the Canes would respond, this time with a Jeff Skinner goal just over a minute later.

The third period would be just as entertaining, as Eberle would give Edmonton their third lead moments into the period. As the pattern had gone, the Canes tied it moments later with a Jay Harrison goal, but then Edmonton finally took control for good. Goals by Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Matt Hendricks would allow the Oil to pull away, giving them a huge 6-3 victory.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: Bring the same exact effort that you brought on Friday night. Edmonton out-played Chicago for long stretches of that meeting, and deserved a better fate. If Edmonton comes ready to play again, then they should be able to snap their current losing streak and knock off the Hurricanes.

Carolina: Pucks on net will be huge this afternoon. Richard Bachman hasn’t played much since getting called up to Edmonton, and hasn’t started a game at the NHL level since October of 2013. If Carolina can pepper Bachman the way they peppered Dubnyk on Friday, they’ll win this game.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: F Jordan Eberle has owned the Hurricanes throughout his career, and is due for a big game on the stat sheet. Eberle has been playing well as of late, but has failed to convert on his chances. I’ll be watching him this afternoon to see if he can get back on the scoresheet. I think he will.

Carolina: F Eric Staal might be older, but he’s still a dynamic center with tons of skill, and a lot of size. Staal, especially when he gets rolling, is a very fun player to watch. We don’t get to see him much, and the media hype isn’t there, but he is very good. Keep a close eye on him during this game.

Quick Hits:

The Oilers have won three straight meetings over the Hurricanes, including a sweep of the season series last year. Richard Bachman will be making his third NHL appearance of the season today. He previously came in twice in relief of Viktor Fasth (@ WPG, @ OTT). The Hurricanes traded D Andrej Sekera to Los Angeles and F Jiri Tlusty to Winnipeg at the NHL’s trade deadline. Sadly, Fernando Pisani will not be in the line-up today.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Teddy Purcell – Derek Roy – Nail Yakupov

Ryan Hamilton – Matt Hendricks – Matt Fraser

Luke Gazdic – Boyd Gordon – Rob Klinkhammer

Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz

Martin Marincin – Mark Fayne

Andrew Ference – Jordan Oesterle

Richard Bachman

Carolina Hurricanes Lines:

Eric Staal – Victor Rask – Elias Lindholm

Nathan Gerbe – Jordan Staal – Andrej Nestrasil

Jeff Skinner – Riley Nash – Alex Semin

Brad Malone – Jay McClement – Pat Dwyer

Ron Hainsey – Justin Faulk

Rasmus Rissanen – Ryan Murphy

John-Michael Liles – Michal Jordan

Cam Ward