(I’m writing this Friday night, as the Coyotes are playing the Flames. I’m not waiting for morning skate, either. So if this turns out to be all wrong, all I have to say is “Thanks Obama”.)
The Oilers are back in action tonight, hosting the Arizona Coyotes for the final time at Rexall Place. This marks the fourth of five games between the two teams, and the beginning of the Oilers last homestand in the House that Wayne Built.
Last Game
The Oilers played a very solid road game in Minnesota on Thursday night, beating the Wild 2-1 in what was not a typical Minnesota game. There was a lot of stuff going on out there, at least in terms of scoring chances. Lauri Korpikoski and Connor McDavid both scored (and Taylor Hall nearly potted a beauty feed from Connor in the 3rd to put the game on ice for good). There was a little bit of line-juggling out there, and I thought that the combo of 4-97-44 was pretty solid when they were out.
Cam Talbot made some incredible saves, as he’s been doing the last little while. In his last 5 wins, Talbot has only let in 4 goals, and in the only loss he’s had in that time, he let 3 get behind him. This is the kind of goaltending we’ve been looking for.
Keys to the Game
The Oilers need to play a home game tonight. They can’t let Arizona come out and get the better of them this time around as has been the case in the past. With the additions of Zack Kassian and Patrick Maroon on the top 2 lines, there’s a little more protection for the guys up front, and it’s been really nice to see bodies being thrown around a bit, and watching guys stick up for one another. I’m not advocating that anyone becomes a student of the Darnell Nurse school of facepunching, but if someone were to give, say, Shane Doan a little shove in the mouth I wouldn’t object.
Connor McDavid is really good, and I think other guys need to learn what he needs them to do. There’s been a number of times I’ve seen a beautiful play develop, but the execution isn’t there because someone’s stick isn’t on the ice, or they’re not quite quick enough. McDavid sees the ice differently, and hopefully over these last dozen or so games the Oilers can figure out how to make it work with him out there.
Players to Watch
Just watch the game. And this video.
Projected Lineups
Edmonton
Taylor Hall – Connor McDavid – Zack Kassian
Patrick Maroon – Leon Draisaitl – Jordan Eberle
Lauri Korpikoski – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Nail Yakupov
Adam Cracknell – Mark Letestu – Iiro Pakarinen
Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Griffin Reinhart – Adam Clendening
Jordan Oesterle – Nikita Nikitin
Cam Tal-Bot
Arizona
Alex Tanguay – Antoine Vermette – Anthony Duclair
Tobias Rieder – Martin Hanzal – Viktor Tikhonov
Max Domi – Brad Richardson – Shane Doan
Jordan Martinook – Boyd Gordon – Sergei Plotnikov
Kevin Connauton – Connor Murphy
Klas Dahlbeck – Zbynek Michalek
Nicklas Grossmann – Michael Stone
Mike Smith
Final Thoughts
It’s almost the end of the season, for which I’m kind of thankful.
I don’t have much else to say, but last game I spent the evening watching with a buddy (shoutout to Matt Burns for being great company), and I avoided the Twitter machine while the game was on. While I missed talking to some of my buds, I was MUCH happier after the game when I didn’t see the negativity.**
That was short-lived because today I saw a bunch of sniping yet again. After a win, no less. I just don’t get it. I really don’t. We’re all on this sinking ship together. Let’s at least not push each other overboard.
Other Sports News
It’s almost March Madness, that time of year where everyone pretends to be a college basketball fan (but they won’t cheer for Duke and they don’t know why).
This happened today, in the 3rd overtime of a game between the University of Connecticut and Cincinnati.
Here’s the ridiculous ending to UConn – Cincy’s 3rd OT pic.twitter.com/hz30wwU5vd
— The Cauldron (@TheCauldron) March 11, 2016
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js(For the record, UConn ended up winning. In the 4OT.)
**I hate that I’m about to admit this, but I took the advice of my friend Scott about staying off Twitter during the game. He assured me that I’d enjoy it more, and he was right.
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