Oilers Gameday – @ Red Wings

After falling 1-0 to the Capitals on Monday ni…. No, wait.

After falling 4-1 to the Hurricanes on Wednesday night, the Oilers look to rebound tonight against the Red Wings in Detroit.

The Oilers will be without F’s Rob Klinkhammer and rookie Connor McDavid, along with Justin Schultz (expected to make his return to the lineup tomorrow). Eric Gryba is back in the lineup, and Griffin Reinhart is going to sit. Jujhar Khaira was called up yesterday from Bakersfield, but won’t see the ice until tomorrow.

Detroit’s Johan Franzen is on the IR with concussion symptoms. You can follow him on Instagram, where he posts pictures of himself cooking Swedish meatballs, and of his children being adorable.

Last Games:

The Oilers laid an egg against Carolina, losing not only the game (4-1), but also Nail Yakupov to, well, this:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/oilers-nail-yakupov-injured-in-collision-with-official/

Detroit won, and Pavel Datsyuk scored his 300th career goal because he is an absolute machine.

Keeping it 300. ???#PavGonnaPav #LGRW https://t.co/f53lKpwLC8

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) November 26, 2015

Keys to the Game:

Edmonton:

Play better than last game. I don’t have more than that. The first period was good, the rest was hot garbage. They need to play better and beat Jimmy Howard (who is 12-0 against the Oilers over the last however long).

Detroit:

Get the puck to Tatar. Or Nyquist. Or Abdelkader. Or Zetterberg. Or Datsyuk. Or… you get the idea. I think if they get a quick goal, and get in Talbot’s kitchen, they’ll probably walk away with a win.

Players to Watch:

Edmonton:

I think the top line of Hall, Ebs and Drai should be electric. We know that Hall and Drai have mad chemistry, and Hall and Ebs play well together. Here’s hoping that this line combo works out and the get a million combined points tonight.

Also – we should all watch Taylor Hall because he is head and shoulders above everyone else on the team, and looks damn good in the blue and orange. I will fight anyone who disagrees.

Detroit:

Dylan Larkin is pretty great. He’s the first teenager to make the Red Wings lineup since Steve Yzerman (on the top line, no less), and it’s well deserved. Henrik Zetterberg is always good to watch, as his beard is in playoff mode right now. And, as always, watch Pavel Datsyuk to see if you can figure out how he gets the puck on the string.

Quick Hits:

I think we all need to take a good long look at ourselves as fans, and remember that this is just a game. The garbage I’ve seen online the last few days is overwhelming. However they play, they’re still people, and deserve to be treated as such. (Besides, if you’re that offended by the way they play, stop watching. We don’t need you on the bus anyway.)

Lineups:

Edmonton

Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Jordan Eberle

Lauri Korpikoski – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Teddy Purcell

Benoit Pouliot – Mark Letestu – Matt Hendricks

Luke Gazdic – Anton Lander– Iiro Pakarinen

Darnell Nurse – Andrej Sekera

Oscar Klefbom – Mark Fayne

Brandon Davidson – Eric Gryba

Cam Talbot

Detroit

Justin Abdelkader – Henrik Zetterberg – Dylan Larkin

Brad Richards – Pavel datsyuk – Teemu Pulkkinen

Tomas Tatar – Riley Sheahan – Gustav Nyquist

Drew Miller – Luke Glendening – Darren Helm

Nicklas Kronwall – Mike Green

Dan DeKeyser – Jonathan Ericsson

Brendan Smith – Alexey Marchenko

Jimmy Howard