The Oilers are about to handle a few firsts for the 2015-16 hockey season, their first road trip and first set of back-to-back games. Tonight, the Oil kickoff a road trip weekend in Winnipeg against the Jets. This will be the second and final meeting between the sides on the pre-season, they met in Edmonton back on Wednesday night.
Matt Hendricks scored a short-handed goal via a penalty shot late to give Edmonton a 3-2 victory over the Jets in the first meeting, lifting Edmonton’s pre-season record to 3-0.
The Jets sent a weak team to Edmonton on Wednesday, but tonight they’ll have the big dogs in the lineup. Jacob Trouba, Drew Stafford, Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Tobias Enstrom are all expected to be in the lineup.
Player To Watch:
Lauri Korpikoski was acquired in a somewhat surprising trade at the end of June in exchange for Boyd Gordon. Many people, myself included, liked the move because it gave Edmonton a decent two-way forward with size and speed to go along with a little skill.
Our friend Lowetide is hoping he is the answer to his prayers for a ‘Pisani-type’ forward, and I think we all share that sentiment. Tonight, Korpikoski gets a big chance to show something, as he’ll be lined up with Taylor Hall and Leon Draisaitl.
Does Korpikoski bring the speed and skill that was advertised following the trade? We’ll get a good chance to find out the answer to that tonight, this is a big chance for the veteran.
Story To Watch:
Ben Scrivens will start for the Oilers tonight and is expected to play the entire game. Scrivens last played on Monday night in Calgary and he looked calm in the net, much better than last year. Another strong performance by Scrivens will go a long way towards the veteran keeping his NHL roster spot.
If Scrivens falters tonight? Anders Nilsson is expected to get the net tomorrow and he looked even better in his debut against the Flames. There certainly is some pressure on Scrivens tonight to put forth a strong showing.
Training Camp Battle To Watch:
The fourth line right spot is wide open, and most of the competitors will get a chance to show something tonight. Rob Klinkhammer and Tyler Pitlick will both be in the lineup, and both will be looking to make an impact as they fight for a job.
Klinkhammer is likely the favorite in this battle, but Pitlick has a solid skill set that meshes will with the NHL. For Pitlick, it’s all about consistency and staying healthy. A strong game by him tonight could lead to this competition opening up in a bigger way.
A strong game by Klinkhammer could go a long way as well, he was solid in his pre-season debut back on Monday against the Flames.
Oilers Lines:
Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Lauri Korpikoski
Anton Slepyshev – Anton Lander – Nail Yakupov
Andrew Miller – Jujhar Khaira – Tyler Pitlick
Luke Gazdic – Phil McRae – Rob Klinkhammer
Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Nikita Nikitin – David Musil
Brandon Davidson – Brad Hunt
Ben Scrivens
Final Notes:
Connor McDavid will be a healthy scratch for the second game in a row for the Oilers. He’ll be in the lineup tomorrow against the Minnesota Wild, and coach Todd McLellan said he could play all of the remaining pre-season games after that.
The presumed top-line of Benoit Pouliot, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle will also get tonight off, with the expectation being that they will also play tomorrow against the Wild.
Todd McLellan announced that Ben Scrivens will play the full game tonight, and that Anders Nilsson will play the full game tomorrow afternoon.
Forward Teddy Purcell is currently injured, which is why he has missed practice and the last two pre-season games.
Game starts at 6:00 pm and can be streamed on the Oiler website, those of us not in the broadcast region will need to listen in on 630 CHED.
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