Oilers Gameday – Vs. Blues

The Oilers continue their homestand tonight with a visit from the St. Louis Blues, the team that came to Edmonton and embarrassed them right before the Christmas break. The Blues have won five in a row entering tonight, while Edmonton recently snapped a four game losing streak with a win on Sunday night.

The Oilers found out yesterday that forward Ales Hemsky will be representing the Czech Republic in the Olympics, while Anton Belov will represent Russia and Martin Marincin will represent Slovakia. Taylor Hall found out this morning that he had been snubbed from Team Canada, while Nail Yakupov was snubbed from Team Russia.

The Blues have a number of Olympians, including Canadians Alex Pietroangelo and Jay Bouwmeester, Russian Vlad Tarasenko and Americans TJ Oshie, Kevin Shattenkirk and David Backes.

Oilers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov will get the start, while Brian Elliot is expected to go for St. Louis. This is the second of three meetings between the squads this year, they’ll close out the series in St. Louis in March.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers last played on Sunday night, when they hosted a hot Tampa Bay squad. The Bolts struck early on the PP, as Nikita Kucherov would one-time a shot home just 2:43 in. The Oilers would strike back however, as Jordan Eberle would score less than two minutes later. Eberle would score a PPG on a bizarre play two minutes later, and Luke Gazdic would tip-home a Justin Schultz shot late to put Edmonton up 3-1.

In the second, the Bolts turned up the heat and scored two quick goals, thanks to Victor Hedman and Val Filppula, to tie things at three. Edmonton would rebound late in the second, but couldn’t regain the lead.

The Oilers nearly had a goal early in the third, but it was deemed Ales Hemsky’s wrist shot hit the cross bar. The Oilers would keep up the pressure and get a Boyd Gordon goal to take a lead at the 8:20 mark, while Taylor Hall would add the insurance by tipping home an Andrew Ference shot at 10:30. Ilya Bryzgalov would shut the door, and seal Edmonton’s 5-3 victory.

St. Louis: The Blues hosted the Blue Jackets on Saturday night in a tale of two games. The Jackets dominated the first twenty minutes, and got goals from Artem Anisimov and Mark Letestu to take a two goal lead into the second.

Things changed quickly however, and the Blues came out guns blazing in the final forty minutes. Patrik Berglund, Vlad Sobotka and Max Lapierre would all score to give the Blues a 3-2 lead after two. The Blues were all over the ice and simply outclassed the Jackets in the second.

Patrik Berglund would add the insurance marker for his second of the game early in the third, while Jaden Schwartz and Alex Pietroangelo would pour it on for the Blues. Brian Elliot would stop 22 shots and help seal the 6-2 Blues victory.

Last Meeting:

The Blues and Oilers last met on December 21st in a game that got out of hand. Edmonton dominated the first period, out-shooting the Blues by a 14-5 margin, but a mental breakdown would allow Chris Stewart to give the Blues a lead at the 14 minute mark.

In the second, the Oilers came apart quickly, and the Blues pounced all over them. Brendan Morrow would score a beautiful goal, while the team began suffocating the Oilers at the blue-line and frustrating their young forwards.

Edmonton started making a ton of mistakes, and the Blues would capitalize. Chris Stewart would score 1:46 into the period, basically putting the game away. The Blues kept pushing, and Jaden Schwartz, Stewart and Patrik Berglund would all score to make it 6-0. At the end of the game, the famous “jersey toss” would occur, marking a new low for the Oilers.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Taylor Hall is the best competitor Edmonton has had in a long while. He was snubbed from the Olympic team this morning, and you just know that’s a big blow to the kid. Hall, when on, is nearly unstoppable offensively. Hall isn’t happy, and I think he’ll enjoy proving some people wrong. I firmly believe he starts that campaign tonight, and would keep a close eye on him.

St. Louis: Blues forward Patrik Berglund has been hot recently, and usually kills the Oilers. He’s got size, speed, skill and good two-way play, those players always give the Oilers fits, and I think that continues tonight. Berglund scored last meeting, and potted two on Saturday night. I’d keep a close eye on him.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Nail Yakupov – Sam Gagner – David Perron

Ryan Smyth – Boyd Gordon – Ales Hemsky

Luke Gazdic – Mark Arcobello – Ryan Jones

Andrew Ference – Justin Schultz

Martin Marincin – Jeff Petry

Nick Schultz – Brad Hunt

Ilya Bryzgalov

St. Louis Blues Lines:

Jaden Schwartz – David Backes – TJ Oshie

Vlad Sobotka – Patrik Berglund – Vlad Tarasenko

Brendan Morrow – Derek Roy – Chris Stewart

Magnus Paajarvi – Max Lapierre – Ryan Reaves

Jay Bouwmeester – Alex Pietroangelo

Kevin Shattenkirk – Barrett Jackman

Ian Cole – Jordan Leopold

Brian Elliot