The Oilers return to the ice tonight in the second half of back-to-back tilts, tonight heading to Long Island to battle the Metropolitan division leading New York Islanders in the second and final meeting between the sides on the season. This is game three of a six game trip for Edmonton, while the Islanders return home after a tilt on Sunday.
The Oilers sent F Taylor Hall home on Sunday to get his left ankle looked at, and he will likely miss the rest of the road trip. The team is also without F Benoit Pouliot, who did skate on Monday but is not ready, and D Nikita Nikitin. The Isles, meanwhile, are rolling on without F Kyle Okposo.
Viktor Fasth gets back in net tonight for the Oilers, while Jaroslav Halak gets the nod for New York.
Last Game:
Edmonton: The Oilers battled the Devils last night in a dog fight in New Jersey, and played one of their better defensive games of the season. The Devils played a strong first ten minutes, out-shooting Edmonton and opening the scoring with a Patrik Elias goal, but Edmonton would respond in the last ten minutes and even things up with an Oscar Klefbom tally.
The middle frame would be all Edmonton, with the Oilers commanding both the shot clock and chance clock. Nail Yakupov would finally break a month long goalless drought 12:45 into the frame on the power-play, giving Edmonton a lead that they would not lose.
Ben Scrivens stood tall, stopping five Devils shots in the third to seal the deal and give Edmonton a nice 2-1 victory over the pesky Devils.
New York: The Isles last took the ice on Sunday night in Buffalo, battling a struggling Sabre team. New York dominated the first twenty, out-shooting Buffalo 9-5 and scoring the lone goal, a Colin MacDonald marker 16:19 into the period.
The Isles began pulling away in the second, as Anders Lee and Mikhail Grabovski each found the back of the net, but Buffalo wouldn’t die, as both Marcus Foligno and Drew Stafford would score to make it a 3-2 game heading into the third.
Buffalo could only muster two shots in the final twenty minutes, however, and Jaroslav Halak was strong to the task, stopping both attempts to seal the 3-2 victory for the Islanders.
Last Meeting:
The Oilers and Isles last played in January at Rexall Place in a pretty entertaining game. The Oilers got going early, capitalizing on a bad Isles mistake as Matt Hendricks buried a puck into an empty net 16:59 into the game.
Edmonton would extend their lead just eight seconds into the second with a Jordan Eberle goal, but New York would get within one thanks to a Johnny Boychuk blast on the power-play at the 3:41 minute marker.
Edmonton would gain momentum late in the frame, and use it to put the game away in the third period. Derek Roy would add insurance early, while Hendricks and Matt Fraser would each score as well. Brock Nelson would get a garbage time PP goal late, but it meant nothing as Edmonton hung on to win 5-2.
Keys To The Game:
Edmonton: A fast start tonight for Edmonton would be huge. The Oilers played last night, and will likely run out of gas by the latter portions of this hockey game. If the Oilers can get some chances early, and even cash in on a few, then they will be in perfect position to snag this hockey game.
New York: For the Islanders, they just need to play their game tonight. Edmonton is without two huge cogs to their attack, and the Oilers defense struggles against skilled teams. If the Islanders use their speed and skill, and they have lots of it, then they could run a tired Oiler team out of the building.
Players To Watch:
Edmonton: I thought last night was one of Nail Yakupov’s best games as an Oiler. He was solid defensively, was physical, created chances and scored a goal. Can he keep this play up a little bit and get some consistency? That would be absolutely huge, and I’ll be watching him to see if he can string together a few good games here.
New York: Quietly, Islanders F Anders Lee is on pace for a twenty goal season. The young and skilled winger packs an offensive punch, and is one of New York’s top secondary weapons offensively. When it’s not Tavares doing the damage, this guy is usually involved. I’ll be watching him closely tonight to see his impact.
Quick Hits:
After playing two epic Stanley Cups Finals in the 1980’s, this will be Edmonton’s final trip to the old Nassau Memorial Coliseum, as the Isles will move to Brooklyn next fall. The Oilers have won two of the last three match-ups with the Islanders, but the home team has won all three of those tilts. Isles F John Tavares represented the team, along with G Jaroslav Halak, at the NHL All-Star game last month.
The 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
Viktor Fasth
New York Islanders Lines:
Anders Lee – John Tavares – Josh Bailey
Mikhail Grabovski – Frans Nielsen – Ryan Strome
Harry Zolnierczyk – Brock Nelson – Nikolay Kulemin
Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Colin MacDonald
Nick Leddy – Johnny Boychuk
Brain Strait – Travis Hamonic
Thomas Hickey – Lubomir Visnovsky
Jaroslav Halak
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