Oilers Gameday – @ Predators

The Oilers kick-off a quick three game road trip tonight, which will last a total of four nights. The show gets going tonight in Nashville as the Oilers meet the Predators for the first time on the year. The team will be in Columbus to take on the Jackets tomorrow night, and then will battle Dallas in Texas on Sunday.

The Oilers recalled defender Denis Grebeshkov on Wednesday afternoon, and it is expected that he will return to the Oilers lineup. Forwards Mark Arcobello and Ryan Jones will return to the lineup tonight and give the fourth line a bit of a shake-up, while tough guy forwards Will Acton and Luke Gazdic will take a seat.

New goalie Ilya Bryzgalov will make his first start for the Oilers tonight. He made 12 saves on 13 shots in a relief effort on Monday night against Chicago.

Nashville has won five of their last six games and have been without starting goalie Pekka Rinne. The Preds are playing the second half of back-to-back tilts, something Edmonton is starting tonight.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers three game winning streak was squashed on Monday night in a 5-1 shelling complements of the Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks opened the scoring just over five minutes in as Jonathan Toews blew past Nail Yakupov for a short-handed break-away chance he would not miss. The Hawks got a PP goal from Patrick Kane off a rebound to go up 2-0.

In the second, the Hawks scored less than a minute and a half in as Johnny Oduya fired a shot to the net that was stopped by Devan Dubnyk, but the rebound bounced off defender Corey Potter and into the net. Andrew Shaw would wrist one home for a 4-0 lead, which would lead to Dubnyk getting yanked.

Justin Schultz fired a rocket past Corey Crawford to bring Edmonton within three, but Andrew Shaw would tip home a shot late in the third to make it a 5-1 game, which would be the final result.

Nashville: The Preds took to the ice last night in Columbus to take on the Jackets, arguably the most inconsistent team in hockey. After smacking Toronto 6-0 earlier in the week, the Jackets came out unprepared and were knocked around by the surging Predators. Nashville got on the board first as Matt Cullen would fire home a shot mid-way through the opening frame.

In the second, Mike Fisher would wrist one home on the power-play, and eight minutes later David Legwand would join in on the scoring to make it 3-0.

In the final frame, Nick Spaling would add the exclamation point and the Preds would hang on for a 4-0 win. Goalie Marek Mazanec, recalled to take Rinne’s roster spot, would record the shut-out.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Preds met three times last year, with the last meeting coming in March in Nashville. The Oilers opened the scoring with a Taylor Hall power-play goal about seven minutes in, but it would be the only time Edmonton would have the lead. Sergei Kostitsyn would snap home a shot about four minutes later to even things up, which would last until intermission.

In the second, Kevin Klein fired home a point shot to give Nashville a 2-1 lead, while Chris Mueller would make it 3-1 about half-way into the frame on a terrible defensive gaffe by Mark Fistric.

In the third, Shawn Horcoff would tip-home a shot that made things close, but Rinne would close the door and the Preds would hold onto the 3-2 victory, taking the season series two games to one.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oilers forward Mark Arcobello returns to the line-up tonight and will no doubt have a chip on his shoulder. The rookie center was Edmonton’s brightest spot at the start of the season, chipping in on offense, playing a solid defensive game, and being a factor on special teams. He was recently a victim of the numbers game but gets a chance to shine tonight. Never tell this kid the odds, I suspect he has a nice return to the lineup.

Nashville: Rookie defender Seth Jones fell into Nashville’s lap at pick number four this past June, and the young stud defender is for real. Jones has handled a big role right off the bat and fit in nicely with the league’s most defensive minded team. Jones has been playing a top-four role and on occasion a top-two role. This kid is a stud and the next best defender. Sit back and enjoy the show tonight Edmonton, then go out and acquire someone like him!!!

Lineups:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Nail Yakupov – Sam Gagner – Ales Hemsky

Ryan Smyth – Boyd Gordon – David Perron

Jesse Joensuu – Mark Arcobello – Ryan Jones

Andrew Ference – Jeff Petry

Anton Belov – Justin Schultz

Nick Schultz – Denis Grebeshkov

Ilya Bryzgalov

Nashville Predators Lines:

Colin Wilson – Mike Fisher – Eric Nystrom

Gabriel Bourque – David Legwand – Viktor Stalberg

Nick Spaling – Matt Cullen – Craig Smith

Rich Clune – Paul Gaustad – Matt Hendricks

Shea Weber – Roman Josi

Seth Jones – Kevin Klein

Victor Bartley – Ryan Ellis

Marek Mazanec