The Oilers return from a brief one-game road trip tonight to face the St. Louis Blues in the third and final meeting between the sides. It’s the lone meeting between the teams in Edmonton this year, as the previous two took place in St. Louis.
The Oilers will be without F’s Taylor Hall and Anton Lander due to injury, while Matt Fraser is likely to be a healthy scratch. D Nikita Nikitin is out injured, while D Jeff Petry is a healthy scratch. The Blues will be without D Kevin Shattenkirk, who is currently on the IR.
Ben Scrivens starts for Edmonton, while Brian Elliott gets the nod for the Blues.
Last Games:
Edmonton: The Oilers last played on Tuesday night in Minnesota, playing with a battered line-up against the red-hot Wild. The Oilers played a perfect first period, out-shooting the Wild 9-6 and dominating chance wise. Edmonton got two Benoit Pouliot goals, while the Wild got a marker from Thomas Vanek sandwiched in-between.
The Wild would turn on the heat in the second period, completely taking the game over. Minnesota out-shot Edmonton 13-5 in the middle frame, but Ben Scrivens would hold the fort, stopping everything thrown his way. The Wild just dominated this middle frame.
That didn’t change in the third either, as Minnesota threw everything they had at the Oilers. The Wild fired 15 more shots on net, but Scrivens was up to the task, stopping each and every shot thrown at him to cement Edmonton’s 2-1 road victory.
St. Louis: The Blues opened up a western Canada swing on Thursday night in Winnipeg. The Jets stuck it to the Blues in the opening period, out-shooting them 11-4 and controlling the pace of play. Brian Elliott was ready, however, stopping everything thrown his way.
The second period saw a more even pace, as the sides tied in shots at eleven a piece. The Blues started to push in this frame, and ended up with the game’s first goal at the 18:11 mark as Patrik Berglund opened the scoring.
The Jets bounced back in the third, finally beating Elliott 3:14 in as Mark Scheifele put home his tenth goal of the season to force overtime. OT solved nothing, and the sides headed to a shoot-out.
Vlad Tarasenko and Andrew Ladd would trade goals in the first few rounds, but Alex Steen would get the winner in the bottom of the third as he beat Michael Hutchinson with a nifty move to secure a 2-1 win for St. Louis.
Last Meeting:
The Oilers and Blues met back in mid-January in St. Louis in a game where the score flattered the visiting side. The Blues completely dominated the game from the opening puck-drop, smothering the Oiler forwards all night long. The Blues got rewarded with goals from Vlad Tarasenko and David Backes in the final seven minutes of the first period.
The Blues would extend their lead in the middle frame with a Jaden Schwartz goal that basically put things away, giving St. Louis a three goal advantage. Benoit Pouliot would get two goals in the final period, but an Alex Steen goal mixed in there made sure Edmonton’s rally attempt was nothing more than that, an attempt.
Jake Allen would stop 13 shots in the 4-2 St. Louis victory.
Keys To The Game:
Edmonton: Play with confidence and play loose tonight. The Oilers have been having more fun under Todd Nelson, and it has been showing in the results column. If Edmonton can just go out there tonight and play like they did against Anaheim last Saturday, loose and comfortable, they’ll put up a fight.
St. Louis: Play physical tonight. I say it all the time, but Edmonton really struggles against big and physical teams. That’s exactly what the Blues are, and it ALWAYS harms Edmonton. If the Blues plays that big and heavy style tonight, then it could be another blow-out win over the Oil.
Players To Watch:
Edmonton: F Derek Roy has been a huge help to Nail Yakupov, and has been posting decent offensive numbers since coming over from Nashville. That said, he’s been quiet on the scoresheet in terms of goals for the last two weeks, and is overdue for one. Will tonight be the night? I’m not sure, but I’ll be keeping a close eye on Roy to see if he can pot one.
St. Louis: F Jori Lehtera has been an underrated player for St. Louis this year. He’s a top-six forward who posts great offensive numbers, and has been a difference maker for the Blues up front this year. He’s also had some success against the Oilers, and I’d bet that continues. Keep an eye on this shifty forward.
Quick Hits:
The Blues swept last year’s season series and have won both meetings this year, including an overtime decision back in November. F Vladimir Tarasenko leads the team with 60 points, he has scored 31 goals this year. The Blues acquired F Adam Cracknell from the Blue Jackets earlier this week. Edmonton D’s Keith Aulie and Jordan Oesterle will likely be healthy scratches tonight.
The Lines:
Edmonton Oilers Lines:
Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
Teddy Purcell – Derek Roy – Nail Yakupov
Ryan Hamilton – Matt Hendricks – Iiro Pakarinen
Luke Gazdic – Boyd Gordon – Rob Klinkhammer
Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz
Martin Marincin – Mark Fayne
Andrew Ference – Jordan Oesterle
Ben Scrivens
St. Louis Blues Lines:
Alex Steen – David Backes – T.J. Oshie
Jaden Schwartz – Jori Lehtera – Vladimir Tarasenko
Patrik Berglund – Paul Stastny – Dmitrij Jaskin
Steve Ott – Marcel Goc – Ryan Reaves
Carl Gunnarsson – Alex Pietrangelo
Petteri Lindbohm – Jay Bouwmeester
Barret Jackman – Chris Butler
Brian Elliott
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