Oilers Gameday – Vs. Blackhawks

The Oilers slate of pre-season games keeps rolling this afternoon in Saskatoon against the Chicago Blackhawks. While the game is a neutral site game, Edmonton is technically considered the home team. The Hawks last played on Friday night at home against the Rangers, while Edmonton has been off since their win on Wednesday over the Jets in Winnipeg.

The Last Game:

Chicago: The Hawks hosted the defending Eastern Conference Champion New York Rangers on Friday night, and it turned into a high scoring affair. The Rangers got on the board just 50 seconds into the game as Oscar Lindberg put home his first of the pre-season. About ten minutes later, top Ranger prospect Anthony Duclair put home his first of the pre-season.

Chicago took over the second period, and got a goal from Dennis Rasmussen to cut the lead to 2-1, but that’s as close as it would get. New York scored two more in the third as JT Miller and Marek Hrivik added the insurance goals to put the game away, 4-1 for New York.

Edmonton: The Oilers visited Winnipeg on Wednesday night and looked very sloppy during the first thirty minutes. The Jets looked fresher and quicker, and as a result built a two goal lead. TJ Galiardi beat the Oilers defense for a breakaway 14 minutes into the opening frame and snapped a shot past Brossoit. Matt Halischuk beat Justin Schultz defensively to get a golden chance where Brossoit whiffed on the save early in the second.

Edmonton took over from the midway point on however, as RNH would get the Oil on the board with a quick snap shot. Vlad Tkachev would set up two unreal goals in the final minutes of the period, first setting up Bogdan Yakimov and then Justin Schultz.

Youngster Ty Rimmer would enter the game in the third period and hold the fort, stopping all ten shots he faced to preserve the win for Edmonton 3-2 on the road.

Keys To The Game:

Chicago: For this it will be different than regular season keys, I mentioned that last game too. The Hawks are a team in cap trouble, and will need young players to step up. The Hawks will likely give these guys chances tonight, and need to put them in positions to succeed. That means playing these guys in the roles envisioned for them by the team. Against a younger Oiler lineup that won’t feature many veterans, this is as good of a time as any.

Edmonton: The Oilers still need to see what they have in Leon Draisaitl. Leon and his line will be Edmonton’s top unit tonight, and they’ll need to be put in position to succeed. Edmonton needs to give this unit power-play time, and play them against the Hawks NHL’ers as much as possible. This line will be key to Edmonton’s success moving forward, and they need to know what they have.

Players To Watch:

Chicago: Center Brad Richards was bought out by the Rangers this past summer, and signed a bargain contract with the Hawks. Chicago had a hole on their second line at center last year, and one can argue it cost them against the Kings in the West final. Richards could be the x-factor to the Hawks’ season. He doesn’t have to be terrific, he just has to get the job done. He’s a guy totally worth watching.

Edmonton: Forward Iiro Pakarinen will be on the second line tonight for Edmonton, and will have a chance to show his skills off yet again. The Finnish free agent add caught the eyes of a few people at the start of camp and in the game against Calgary a week ago. He’s physical and can actually play with the puck. That’s a great combo, and a solid showing tonight could give him the inside track to win the fourth line right wing job.

The Lines:

Chicago Blackhawks Lines:

The Hawks lines are not yet known, but we will see players like Teuvo Teravainen, Kris Versteeg and Joakim Nordstrom. We are also likely to see some of the Hawks veterans tonight, and I suspect Jonathan Toews will be one of them.

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

David Perron – Leon Draisaitl – Nail Yakupov

Iiro Pakarinen – Anton Lander – Jordan Eberle

Kale Kessy – Mark Arcobello – Teddy Purcell

Curtis Hamilton – Jason Williams – Jesse Joensuu

Andrew Ference – Dillon Simpson

Martin Marincin – Martin Gernat

Jordan Oesterle – Justin Schultz

Richard Bachman