Oilers Gameday – Vs. Ottawa

There is some very sad news in the world of hockey, as the Ottawa Senators roll into town. Yesterday, it was announced by Senators GM Pierre Dorion that Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson’s wife has been diagnosed with cancer. There is no word on what kind of cancer (that I’m aware of). This ugly disease seems to affect us all at some point. I recently struggled with it as my father was diagnosed with bowel cancer. He fought it (and won), but it was devastating to our entire family nonetheless. I can empathize with Anderson and my heart goes out to him and his family (and I’m sure the same can be said for all Oiler fans). Anderson will be getting the start tonight against Edmonton, and I can only imagine how difficult it must be for him to get focused for the game with such tragic news on his mind.

Unfortunately, the show must go on, and the Senators will try and hand the red hot oilers a loss. The Oilers are riding a 7-1-0 start to the season and sit 1st in the Western Conference. It’s early and it’s probably much too soon to plan the parade, but it’s been a nice change of pace for Oiler fans, compared to seasons past.

Keys to the game:

Edmonton: The Oilers are riding a hot goalie in the form of Cam Talbot, and they’ll need to give him some help. They can’t expect to keep winning if they’re going to rely on their goalie to bail them out every night. Edmonton needs to do a better job of limiting their shots against, while finding ways to keep their offense going.

Ottawa: The Sens are playing relatively well (4-3-0) and are getting production out of Erik Karlsson (as usual). Karlson has 8 points (3 goals and 5 assists) in 7 games played and Ottawa will need him to continue to produce to beat a very confident Oilers squad. The Senators need to pepper Talbot with shots and get in his face.

Players to watch:

Edmonton: Connor McDavid is a human highlight reel and continued his incredible start to the season with multiple scoring chances and a beautiful goal
against the Canucks on friday night. Nuge is playing excellent hockey but still hasn’t potted a goal yet. Maybe tonight is the night? Jesse Puljujarvi is another player to watch. He didn’t tally a point against Vancouver but played very well. I still have to wonder if he’ll be sent down to the AHL soon.

Ottawa: Erik Karlsson. As mentioned above, Karlsson has 8 points in 7 games and is off to a great start. Ryan Dzingel and Kyle Turris are two other Senators of note, with 12 points between the two of them and 4 goals each.

The Lines:

Edmonton is expected to stick with what’s been working, and the lines will stay the same as they were against Vancouver. Goalie Chris Driedger was recently called up by Ottawa and is expected to back up Craig Anderson. Cam Talbot will get another start for the Oilers.

Line combos courtesy of www.dailyfaceoff.com

Game Notes:

The Oilers have won 5 straight and it will be interesting to see if they can keep it going. Nothing lasts forever and all good things must come to an end, but the Senators are a beatable team and Edmonton has had relatively good success against Eastern Conference teams. The two teams match up well and Ottawa is 16-17-4 against Edmonton (all time). Tonight marks Edmonton’s 6th home game of the season, as they finish up the month of October with what has been a very favorable schedule before embarking on a lengthy road trip to start November. A win tonight would set them up nicely for some very challenging games away from Rogers Place.

Gameday Prediction:

The Oilers continue their hot streak and beat the Sens in the shootout. Goals from McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins, and Eberle for the Oilers, and Karlsson, Turris, and Bobby Ryan for the Senators. This is the first time I’ve predicted the Oilers to win in a pre-game blog, so you know who to blame if they end up losing.

The puck drops at 7pm MT. You can catch the game on Sportsnet Oilers.