Oilers Gameday – @ Jets

The Oilers conclude their four game tour of the NHL’s central division this afternoon in Winnipeg against the Jets. It will be the third and final meeting between the sides, who met on opening night and back on December 23rd, with both meetings being in Edmonton.

The Jets are 2-0 under new coach Paul Maurice, who took over following the firing of Claude Noel within the last week. The Jets will also be without star player Evander Kane, who is battling a hand injury. Edmonton will be without forward Nail Yakupov, who is battling a concussion following a hit from Matt Cooke on Thursday night.

Ilya Bryzgalov is expected to start for Edmonton, while the Jets will likely send the struggling Ondrej Pavelec out.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers last took the ice on Thursday night in one of their houses of horror, Minnesota. The Wild and Oilers played a decently even first period, but the Wild struck early as Jason Pominville scored about halfway through the period.

In the second, the Wild dominated the early going, but the Oilers struck first in the frame, as Nail Yakupov would set up Jordan Eberle, who would rip a shot top-shelf past Darcy Kuemper to tie things at one. The Wild, from this point on, would dominate the play and take control of the game. Nate Prosser would score his first on the season at 16:45, while Justin Fontaine would score his first two minutes later.

The Wild would add a Jason Zucker goal eight seconds into the third period to put things away. The Oilers would get a few chances, but Kuemper would stop them all and seal the 4-1 victory, handing Edmonton their 30th loss of the year.

Winnipeg: The Jets payed a visit to Calgary the other night in Paul Maurice’s second game behind the bench. The Jets would get going early, as Bryan Little would score just over five minutes into the frame. Three minutes later, Dustin Byfuglien would snap home a shot to make it 2-0.

In the second, the Jets would add their insurance goals as Mark Scheifele would score just nine minutes into the second period. The second insurance goal would come in the final three minutes on the PP, as former Flame Olli Jokinen would find the back of the net to make it a 4-0 game.

Mark Giordano would get the Flames on the board 40 seconds into the third, but Jacob Trouba would get it back about two minutes later with a wrist shot. Lance Bouma would make it a three goal game with about eight minutes left in the game, but it was way too little too late.

The Jets would get a big win to stay in the playoff race, 5-2 over the struggling Calgary Flames.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Jets last hooked up on December 23rd in Edmonton in a game which featured some fireworks and a lot of scoring. Jordan Eberle would open the scoring on the PP just about 8:40 into the game as he slid one past Pavelec. Mark Stuart would slip a weak shot past Bryzgalov to tie things up, but Sam Gagner would score a pretty goal late to give Edmonton the lead back.

In the second, Andrew Ladd would tip a Byfuglien shot home on the PP to tie things up at two. The Jets dominated the second period up until that point, but after the goal Edmonton would take over the play. David Perron would get a goal late to make things 3-2 for the Oilers.

In the third, Jeff Petry would give Edmonton an insurance goal early in the frame, while Taylor Hall would score a beautiful PP goal with about 11:30 left. Nail Yakupov would score one to make things 6-2, leading to a brawl between the Oilers and the Jets.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oilers forward Taylor Hall has had a lot of success against the Jets franchise in his career, and it’s easy to think that might continue this afternoon. Hall had a hat-trick in his first meeting with the Thrashers/Jets, and has seemingly found his way onto the score sheet every time since. Hall is due for a big game, and I’m going to say it comes today.

Winnipeg: Jets forward, yes forward, Dustin Byfuglien is back at the position he made a name in back with the Blackhawks. Big Buff was moved back to the wing under new coach Paul Maurice and has had a bit of success there. Buff was playing very well as a defender, and I for one am a little puzzled by this move. That said, I’ll be interested to see how he looks on the wing.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

David Perron – Sam Gagner – Ryan Jones

Ryan Smyth – Boyd Gordon – Matt Hendricks

Luke Gazdic – Mark Arcobello – Jesse Joensuu

Andrew Ference – Justin Schultz

Nick Schultz – Anton Belov

Martin Marincin – Jeff Petry

Ilya Bryzgalov

Winnipeg Jets Lines:

Andrew Ladd – Bryan Little – Michael Frolik

Chris Thorburn – Mark Scheifele – Blake Wheeler

Devin Setoguchi – Olli Jokinen – Dustin Byfuglien

James Wright – Eric O’Dell – Anthony Peluso

Zach Bogosian – Tobias Enstrom

Mark Stuart – Jacob Trouba

Adam Pardy – Keaton Ellerby

Ondrej Pavelec