Oilers Gameday – vs Anaheim

After another loss (this time in a shootout to the Jets on Saturday), the Oilers are back in action tonight against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks (who have caught fire since their early season slump and will almost certainly make the playoffs this year, meaning my prediction of a Habs-Ducks final still has the potential to be half right.)

Last Games

Edmonton

The Oilers lost 2-1 in a shootout against the Jets. Laurent Brossoit was outstanding in net as the Oilers lack of offence caught them flat-footed again. After his breakout against the Maple Leafs, Connor McDavid was stymied and held pointless. It was a good reminder that the team can’t win if only one line is scoring.

Honestly, they didn’t even deserve the point they got, except that LB stole the game for them. It’s nice to see that our goaltending issues may be resolved….?

Anaheim

The Ducks roll into town riding a 2-game win streak (including a 3-2 defeat of Chicago a few days back, and a 6-4 victory over the Flames last night). After their slow start this season, they seem to have righted the ship and are currently 2nd in the Pacific Division (meaning that they’ll almost certainly make the playoffs, barring a Habs-like meltdown.

The Ducks are on the second half of a back-to-back, and maybe (just maybe) that means they’ll be tired. (Not that it’ll matter, I’m sure.)

Keys to the Game

Edmonton

Capitalize on Anaheim having played last night, and use some speed to get around the bigger bodies of the Ducks.

They also need to stay out of the penalty box; the Ducks powerplay success is 19.7%, and they have a fair number of very talented guys who get PP time.

Also….get the puck to Connor, probably.

Anaheim

Force the Oilers to play a Ducks game, rather than the other way around. Draw penalties and make the Oilers play down a man.

Double-team Connor.

Players to Watch

Edmonton

I keep saying it, but at some point Taylor Hall is going to break out and score a million points and make everyone remember that he’s good at hockey. Tonight just might be the night.

Also, watch Connor. He’s stupid good at hockey on a level most of us can’t truly appreciate. Like yeah, we know he’s good, but I don’t think we’ve seen how good he actually is.

Anaheim

Look for former Oiler Andrew Cogliano to wheel up and down the ice in his 676th straight game. He holds the longest active streak in the NHL (and he hasn’t missed a game in his ENTIRE CAREER).

Look for other ormer Oiler David Perron to have a big game – he’s been playing really well lately alongside Ryan Getzlaf.

Projected Lineups

Edmonton

Benoit Pouliot – Connor McDavid – Jordan Eberle

Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell

Nail Yakupov – Mark Letestu – Zack Kassian

Matt Hendricks – Anton Lander – Iiro Pakarinen

Andrej Sekera – Justin Schultz

Darnell Nurse – Mark Fayne

Brandon Davidson – Eric Gryba

Cam Tal-Bot

Anaheim

David Perron – Ryan Getzlaf – Mike Santorelli

Nick Ritchie – Rickard Rakell – Corey Perry

Andrew Cogliano – Ryan Kesler – Jakob Silfverberg

Patrick Maroon – Nate Thompson – Ryan Garbutt

Cam Fowler – Kevin Bieksa

Hampus Lindholm – Josh Manson

Simon Despres – Sami Vatanen

Frederik Andersen

Final Thoughts

I was thinking about how great it’ll be when the Oilers finally get good. it’s going to be so nice to be able to cheer for a team that wins more than it loses, and that can put together a solid effort night in and night out.

And then I got thinking about Oilers fans, and how some of them would react to a good team.

The outlook is not favourable, that’s for sure. It’s obvious that there are some fans who are never satisfied, who want to trade everyone (except McDavid, of course because he’s not only able to score a million goals but he can also simultaneously play D and in net), who want to fire the coach (because a 7th head coach in 6 seasons is REALLY what this team needs), who want the GM fired (because, again, another change in management is the best solution.

So what’s going to happen when the Oilers DO make the playoffs? I guarantee people will complain about the following:

• Didn’t finish first overall
• Didn’t win the division
• Didn’t sweep all 4 series
• Didn’t win the Stanley Cup
• Swept a series so we only got 2 home games

And so on and so forth.

I can only hope that once the Oilers are good enough to make the playoffs most of the time that people will remember these dark times and just be happy that the team is there, and competitive.

It must be exhausting, not being able to take victories (moral or otherwise) as such. Those people who are negative about allaspects of the Oilers play need to take a step back and re-evaluate their priorities. They’re not good yet, but they will be. I just hope those ‘fans’ can at least enjoy the fun when it happens.