The Oilers keep on chugging through the east this afternoon as they battle the Ottawa Senators in a Hockey Day In Canada afternoon tilt. This will be the second and final meeting between the sides this season, and the first meeting in Ottawa since the fall of 2014.
Oilers F Taylor Hall is out about six weeks with a leg injury, while D Nikita Nikitin is out anywhere from four to eight weeks. F Benoit Pouliot has been skating, and could return to the lineup this afternoon. Ottawa will be without F Zach Smith and G Craig Anderson, as both are currently on the IR.
Viktor Fasth gets the start for Edmonton, while Robin Lehner gets the net today for Ottawa.
Last Games:
Edmonton: The Oilers were in Montreal on Thursday night for a terrific hockey game that saw them battle back on multiple occasions. Edmonton actually carried play in the first period, but a bad turnover resulted in Christian Thomas scoring his first NHL goal at the 16:25 mark.
The Habs came out flying in the middle frame too, as PK Subban found Alex Galchenyuk in the slot just 1:06 in to make it 2-0 Habs. Edmonton dug in however, and got within one thanks to Matt Hendricks, who tipped home a Jeff Petry shot 4:04 in. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would tie things later in the frame, as he stuffed home a rebound past Dustin Tokarski.
The third period saw Montreal come out flying in the first ten minutes, peppering Viktor Fasth and taking the lead off of a Max Pacioretty goal moments in, but once again, the Oilers wouldn’t die. Edmonton sent things to OT with a Nugent-Hopkins goal off of a rebound in the final 30 seconds, then completed the comeback with an Anton Lander goal just 1:47 into extra time.
The 4-3 win was arguably Edmonton’s most impressive of the season.
Ottawa: The Senators hosted Pittsburgh in a pretty crazy game on Thursday night. The Pens came out with a purpose, getting goals from Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby within the first ten minutes of play.
Evgeni Malkin would make it 3-0 in the second, and the rout appeared to be on in Canada’s capital. That, however, didn’t last. The Sens got two quick goals early in the third, one from Mika Zibanejad and one from Mike Hoffman, to get the game within one.
Crosby would make it 4-2 14:53 in, but the Sens would force OT thanks to some nifty work by Mark Stone and Kyle Turris. OT solved nothing, and the sides headed to a shoot-out, where both David Perron and Sidney Crosby would score to sink Ottawa, 5-4.
Last Meeting:
The Oilers and Sens last met back in November at Rexall Place in a pretty evenly played tilt. Ottawa ran the show in the first twenty minutes, burying Edmonton with three goals. Mike Hoffman, Alex Chiasson and Milan Michalek were the guys to score, and the game looked lost.
Edmonton got to work however, and got a Leon Draisaitl goal on the power-play in the middle frame to make it a game again. The Oil went to work in the third, and peppered Craig Anderson with shot after shot. Finally, Jordan Eberle broke through at 9:35, and then Jeff Petry tied it with a bomb four minutes later to force OT.
In OT, however, all that hard work would be for nothing, as Ben Scrivens gave up a weak goal to Hoffman which gave Ottawa the 4-3 victory on the road.
Keys To The Game:
Edmonton: For the Oilers, they need to play a simple game this afternoon. Ottawa is struggling right now, and is clearly frustrated with what is going on. If the Oilers play their simple and hard working game, just like they did on Thursday, then they will have a good chance to win this hockey game. Don’t try and do too much, just attack the net and play it safe defensively.
Ottawa: The Senators must attack the middle in this game. Ottawa has some real snipers, guys like Mike Hoffman and Bobby Ryan that do nothing but finish chances. Edmonton’s defense is weak, and Viktor Fasth is inconsistent if anything. If Ottawa attacks the middle of the zone and gets some good looks, they could run away with this game.
Players To Watch:
Edmonton: F Anton Lander is starting to break through as a real NHL player. He’s been great under Todd Nelson, and is starting to put together some offensive numbers. Can he keep it up? That’s something I’d love to find out, and I’ll be watching him in this game to see if that consistency stays. He’s been one of Edmonton’s best lately.
Ottawa: Rookie F Mike Hoffman has been a huge bright spot for the Senators this season. He’s got 18 goals and is emerging as a real offensive threat for an Ottawa team that desperately needs one. Hoffman scored twice against Edmonton last meeting, so he’ll be a player that is a candidate to impact this hockey game.
Quick Hits:
Edmonton has won two of the last three meetings between these teams, including the last meeting between them in Ottawa. Oilers F Benoit Pouliot is expected to return to the lineup after suffering an injury 12 days ago in San Jose against the Sharks. Ottawa rookie Mike Hoffman, who has 18 goals, is fifth on the team with 30 points this season.
The Lines:
Edmonton Oilers Lines:
Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
Teddy Purcell – Derek Roy – Nail Yakupov
Matt Hendricks – Boyd Gordon – Rob Klinkhammer
Ryan Hamilton – Anton Lander – Iiro Pakarinen
Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz
Andrew Ference – Jeff Petry
Martin Marincin – Mark Fayne
Viktor Fasth
Ottawa Senators Lines:
Milan Michalek – Kyle Turris – Mark Stone
Mike Hoffman – Mika Zibanejad – Bobby Ryan
Clarke MacArthur – Curtis Lazar – Alex Chiasson
Erik Condra – David Legwand – Chris Neil
Marc Methot – Erik Karlsson
Jared Cowen – Cody Ceci
Mark Borowiecki – Eric Gryba
Robin Lehner
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