Oilers Gameday – @ Avalanche

The Oilers get back on the ice tonight in Denver as they open up a three game road-trip against the Colorado Avalanche in the third and final meeting between the sides on the season. This will be Edmonton’s second trip to the mile high city this season.

The Oilers will be without F’s Matt Hendricks and Boyd Gordon tonight, along with D’s Andrew Ference and Mark Fayne. Meanwhile, the Avalanche will be without F’s Patrick Bordeleau, Jamie McGinn, Borna Rendulic and Jesse Winchester along with D’s Ryan Wilson and Erik Johnson.

Richard Bachman starts for Edmonton, while Semyon Varlamov starts for the Avs.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers last took the ice on Friday night when they hosted the Dallas Stars at Rexall. The Oilers got things going early, and never looked back. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins fanned on a shot early, but found Jordan Eberle in front just 33 seconds in to give the Oil a lead.

Dallas would carry the play in the second, out-shooting Edmonton 13-9, but Richard Bachman was up to the task, stopping everything thrown his way to keep Edmonton up a goal. The Oilers would respond, coming on strong in the third period.

Derek Roy would provide the insurance 9:24 into the final period, while Benoit Pouliot would put the game away four minutes later off of a Taylor Hall feed. Andrew Miller would add salt in the wound with a penalty-shot goal at 16:40 that gave Edmonton a 4-0 lead. Bachman would stop all 29 shots against to seal the 4-0 victory.

Colorado: The Avalanche last played on Saturday, hosting the Buffalo Sabres at the Pepsi Center. The sides played an even first period, splitting the shots 12-12, but opportunism was the story, as Colorado capitalized on their chances. Marc-Andre Cliche opened the scoring 10:47 in, while John Mitchell supplied the insurance moments later.

Colorado only managed three shots in the middle frame, but scored on two of them, compliments of Tyson Barrie and Matt Duchene within the first seven minutes.

Buffalo would push back in the third period, getting two goals from Andrej Meszaros and one from Rasmus Ristolainen, but it mattered not, as Brad Stuart would also score to put the game away, sealing Colorado’s 5-3 victory to stay alive.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Avalanche last met on Wednesday night at Rexall Place in a wild game. The Oilers came out flying, breaking the dam with three goals in the game’s first ten minutes. Martin Marincin opened the scoring, while Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall both provided Edmonton with insurance.

Following the outburst, the Avalanche began to show some urgency, hemming Edmonton in their own zone and firing off on Ben Scrivens. The Avs would finally cut into the lead, getting a pair of second period goals, one from Jarome Iginla and another from Alex Tanguay.

Colorado would finally climb all the way back just 4:54 into the third period as Ryan O’Reilly tipped home an Alex Tanguay pass. Edmonton wouldn’t be denied however, as Derek Roy would score a power-play marker that would be the difference in Edmonton’s 4-3 victory.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers must focus on clogging the middle tonight. Even though they won last week, the Avalanche got far too many easy entries into the slot against the Oiler defense. Edmonton can’t rely on 40 more saves tonight, and must make it difficult for the Colorado attackers to have a chance.

Colorado: Pucks to the net is huge tonight for this Colorado offense that has some unreal skill. Edmonton’s defense and goaltending is rather weak, and usually falters against teams like this. If Colorado can get pucks on net and pressure Edmonton in their own zone, they’ll light the lamp quite a bit tonight.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: F Teddy Purcell has been rather quiet on the scoresheet lately, but has been playing some pretty good hockey. He’s riding shotgun with Yakupov and Roy, and doing some really nice things. Eventually, he’ll get rewarded, and I’m willing to bet tonight is that night.

Colorado: D Tyson Barrie was all over Edmonton last week, creating tons of chances and creating havoc for the Oilers. Barrie is a great puck-mover and possesses a very good shot. I’ll be watching this defender closely, as he’s become the top offensive option for the Avalanche from the blue-line.

Quick Hits:

The Oilers concluded their six game homestand with a 4-1-1 record, their best stretch this season. The Oilers last win in Denver came on April 19th, 2013, a 4-1 decision. F Jordan Eberle scored again on Friday, giving him a two-game goal scoring streak. Eberle now has 60 points, and is sitting in the top 30 scorers in the NHL. F Ryan Nugent-Hopkins got back on his horse Friday, adding an assist in the win. F Jarome Iginla leads the Avalanche in points, having scored 55 in 75 games.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Teddy Purcell – Derek Roy – Nail Yakupov

Taylor Hall – Anton Lander – Andrew Miller

Matt Fraser – Rob Klinkhammer – Luke Gazdic

Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz

Martin Marincin – Nikita Nikitin

Brandon Davidson – Keith Aulie

Richard Bachman

Colorado Avalanche Lines:

John Mitchell – Matt Duchene – Jarome Iginla

Gabriel Landeskog – Ryan O’Reilly – Alex Tanguay

Cody McLeod – Marc-Andre Cliche – Dennis Everberg

Jordan Caron – Freddie Hamilton – Joey Hishon

Nate Guenin – Tyson Barrie

Jan Hejda – Zach Redmond

Brad Stuart – Nick Holden

Semyon Varlamov