Oilers Gameday – @ Predators

After a decent opening night, the Oilers return to the ice tonight for game two of a three game road trip. Tonight, the Oilers head to Nashville to battle the Predators in the first of three meetings this season. Both teams opened up on Thursday night with Edmonton being in St. Louis and Nashville hosting Carolina.

The Oilers enter tonight without F Jordan Eberle, who is sidelined for a few more weeks with a shoulder injury. Nashville enters this game with no injuries, a completely healthy roster.

Cam Talbot will start his second in a row for Edmonton while Pekka Rinne goes for Nashville tonight.

Last Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers were in St. Louis to open the 2015-16 season on Thursday night. Edmonton struggled the first five minutes of the tilt, but Cam Talbot made some key saves and kept the Oilers alive. After Edmonton got their bearings, the Oilers pushed back, and eventually scored a strange power-play goal at the 17:22 mark that was credited to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Edmonton carried the pace for the first ten minutes of the middle frame, but the Blues eventually pushed back and took control. Edmonton’s defense made a poor change which led to a Vladimir Tarasenko breakaway that he cashed in at the 9:10 mark to tie things up.

Connor McDavid would get two real solid chances in the third period, as would both Taylor Hall and Luke Gazdic, but Edmonton couldn’t solve Brian Elliott. That would prove massive, as the Blues would cash in an Edmonton breakdown compliments a Robby Fabbri goal 9:29 into the third.

Fabbri’s marker would prove to be the game winner, while Troy Brouwer would add an empty net goal to give the Blues a 3-1 victory.

Nashville: The Predators hosted the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night to kick off their season. Nashville would get an early power-play opportunity and cash it in as Craig Smith beat Eddie Lack just 2:23 into the game. The Predators would carry the pace and get another goal, this time at the 17:03 mark, as Viktor Arvidsson would snag his first of the season.

The Canes would close the gap in the middle frame, but Pekka Rinne would stop all nine shots he faced to preserve the 2-0 lead. Carolina dominated the third period, getting every chance seemingly and out-shooting the Preds 12-3.

They scored the lone goal, too, thanks to Eric Staal at the 18:20 mark, but it was simply too little, too late as the Predators would hang on for the 2-1 victory.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Predators last met on American Thanksgiving in late November of 2014. The Oilers, who were desperate for a win at the time, played a very solid road game, out-shooting Nashville by a wide 37-25 margin. That said, Pekka Rinne was on his game that night and stopped everything he saw.

Viktor Fasth was equally as impressive, stopping everything he saw in regulation to send us to overtime. In the extra frame, Taylor Hall would get caught out of position and Filip Forsberg would make him pay with a beautiful shot that gave Nashville the 1-0 victory 3:55 into OT.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Connor McDavid was frustrated after the loss on Thursday, you could absolutely see that in his post-game interview with Gene Principe. McDavid got better as the game went on and had a great third period, but there’s always room to grow.

With the pressure of opening night gone and two new linemates, I’ll be keeping a close eye on the young franchise face tonight.

Nashville: Cody Hodgson’s career started with so much fanfare, but it’s safe to say it hasn’t lived up to expectations to this points. Hodgson signed with the Predators this summer in hopes of resurrecting his career, something Mike Ribeiro did with success last year.

I’ll be watching Hodgson closely tonight, there’s no doubt he has talent. Will the change to a more veteran team help him finally become a solid producer?

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: Simple hockey. Edmonton needs to play a simple style and get some scoring looks. Don’t worry about making it look pretty, just get the puck moving in the right direction. The simple play is usually the smart play.

Nashville: Nashville dominated Edmonton last year with physical hockey, something the Oilers again struggled with on Thursday night. If the Preds play a heavy style again tonight, they’ll frustrate Edmonton and limit the chances against.

Quick Hits:

The Oilers were swept by Nashville last season, gaining only one point in the three meetings between the teams. Nashville made the post-season last year, losing in the opening round to Chicago in six games. F Filip Forsberg led the Predators in points last season with 63 in 82 games.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Teddy Purcell

Benoit Pouliot – Connor McDavid – Lauri Korpikoski

Nail Yakupov – Anton Lander – Anton Slepyshev

Luke Gazdic – Mark Letestu – Matt Hendricks

Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz

Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne

Andrew Ference – Eric Gryba

Cam Talbot

Nashville Predators Lines:

Filip Forsberg – Mike Ribeiro – James Neal

Colin Wilson – Mike Fisher – Craig Smith

Viktor Arvidsson – Cody Hodgson – Calle Jarnkrok

Eric Nystrom – Paul Gaustad – Gabriel Bourque

Roman Josi – Shea Weber

Mattias Ekholm – Ryan Ellis

Barret Jackman – Seth Jones

Pekka Rinne