The Oilers continue their four-game road trip tonight in the Big Apple for their lone visit to Madison Square Garden, as they battle the Rangers for the first time this season. The sides will meet at Rexall Place later on in the year.
The Oilers haven’t been playing their best hockey, but have won four out of their last five games. They’ll need to play better tonight however if they want a win here. The rumors are rampant the Sam Gagner is on the move to LA. He’s currently expected to be in the lineup, but I’ll update this if anything goes down. Nail Yakupov moves to the top-line, while Jordan Eberle slides to line two. Ryan Jones draws back in for Jesse Joensuu
The Rangers have been HOT recently, winning ten of their last thirteen games. The Rangers are starting to look like the dangerous team many expected them to be, and are finally clicking in their new system. Rick Nash is one of the hottest players in the NHL right now, while the team is getting contributions from throughout the lineup.
Ben Scrivens, who shut-out NYR earlier this season when with the Kings, gets the start for Edmonton, while rookie Cam Talbot gets the go for the Rangers, who will play the Penguins tomorrow night.
Last Games:
Edmonton: The Oilers were in Buffalo on Monday night, and escaped thanks to a solid performance from Ilya Bryzgalov. The Sabres out-shot Edmonton 13-12 in the first, and had a 2-1 lead. Jeff Petry opened the scoring 32 seconds in, but Steve Ott and Drew Stafford would responded with goals.
Justin Schultz would tie the game up late in the second period, as David Perron would slide the puck to the young defender who would fire it upstairs at the 16:45 mark. Ilya Bryzgalov would stop 18 Sabres shots in what was a bad period for the Oilers, who also had to kill a ton of penalties. Bryzgalov’s play was the sole reason this game was even.
In the third, Edmonton found themselves on the PK early, but got a lead as Matt Hendricks would score a SHG on a breakaway just 57 seconds into the frame. Ilya Bryzgalov would stop 13 more Sabres shots in the frame to put the game away. His 42 saves sealed Edmonton’s 3-2 victory.
New York: The Rangers last took the ice on Tuesday night, where they rocked the Colorado Avalanche. The Rangers opened the scoring 14:16 in as Ryan Callahan would backhand his tenth of the year behind Semyon Varlamov. Callahan would add his second of the night just over three minutes later to make things 2-0.
In the second, the Av’s got within one as Gabriel Landeskog snapped a shot home on the PP. The Rangers would take over from here however, regaining their two goal lead just 53 seconds later, as Anton Stralman would fire home his first of the season. Henrik Lundqvist would stop 13 shots in the frame to keep the lead for NY.
In the final period, the Rangers would put things away early, as Derick Brassard would snap home a shot. Brad Richards would seal things late in the game, while Lundqvist would stop all ten Av’s shots directed his way, sealing New York’s dominating 5-1 victory over Colorado.
Last Meeting:
The last time these two met was way back in October of 2011 at Rexall Place in Edmonton. The first period saw each team get some chances, but both goalies stand tall. Nikolai Khabibulin stopped four Ranger shots, while Henrik Lundqvist would stop all eleven Oilers shots.
The Oilers kept the pressure up in the second, and were rewarded with the game’s first goal. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would rifle home a shot 10:09 into the period off a feed from Taylor Hall. Khabibulin would stop seven Ranger shots, keeping the Oil up one after 40 minutes.
The third period saw the Rangers push back, but saw Khabi stop all eight Ranger shots, while Edmonton would get the much needed insurance goal. Corey Potter blasted a shot home on the PP 4:03 in that was the essential dagger in the Rangers’ hearts. Khabi’s shut-out would seal the 2-0 Oilers win.
Players To Watch:
Edmonton: Oilers forward Sam Gagner may or may not make it to game-time tonight. In the event he does, it likely could be his final game with the Oilers. I’ll be watching Sam to see what he does tonight. He’ll be reunited with Jordan Eberle, and will be in another spot to succeed. I get the feeling Sam survives the day, and puts on one last show.
New York: Rangers forward Rick Nash has been one of the best forwards in the game since being named to Canada’s Olympic team, and there is little to suggest the Oilers will be able to shut him down tonight. Nash is a skilled guy with a lot of size and speed to his game. He’s exactly what the Oilers need. I suspect he’ll find the back of the net this evening.
The Lines:
Edmonton Oilers Lines:
Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Nail Yakupov
David Perron – Sam Gagner – Jordan Eberle
Matt Hendricks – Boyd Gordon – Ales Hemsky
Luke Gazdic – Ryan Smyth – Ryan Jones
Andrew Ference – Justin Schultz
Martin Marincin – Jeff Petry
Nick Schultz – Mark Fraser
Ben Scrivens
New York Rangers Lines:
Chris Kreider – Derek Stepan – Rick Nash
Carl Haglin – Brad Richards – Ryan Callahan
Benoit Pouliot – Derick Brassard – Mats Zuccarello
Brian Boyle – Dominic Moore – Daniel Carcillo
Ryan McDonagh – Dan Girardi
Marc Staal – Anton Stralman
John Moore – Kevin Klein
Cam Talbot
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