Oilers Gameday – Vs. Bruins

The Edmonton Oilers look to finish a five game homestand tonight on a winning note as the big bad Boston Bruins come rolling into town for the first of two meetings this season. The sides will hook up in Beantown on February 1st. The Oilers have not beaten the Bruins since October of 2000, a 13 year losing skid to a team Edmonton beat in the 1988 and 1990 Cup Finals.

The Oilers are banged up right now. Defender Jeff Petry is still battling the results of a head injury he suffered Saturday, but he is expected to play. Forward Boyd Gordon is still battling a shoulder injury, while goalie Ilya Bryzgalov has a concussion. Bryz is doubtful for tonight, while Gordon skated this morning with the team.

The Bruins will be without suspended forward Shawn Thornton, who is serving an indefinite suspension for his actions on Saturday. Forward Loui Eriksson is out with a concussion, while forward Danny Paille is expected to miss the game. The B’s will also be without defenders Adam McQuaid and Dougie Hamilton. Goalies Tuukka Rask and Chad Johnson are both battling the flu as well. Rask missed practice on Wednesday.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers escaped a close call Tuesday against the Hurricanes at home. Edmonton jumped out to an early lead as Taylor Hall made it 1-0 1:33 into the game. The Canes would respond with a Tuomo Ruutu goals six minutes later, but then Edmonton would take over. Nail Yakupov and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would each score and put Edmonton up 3-1 after one.

The Canes dominated the second frame, but the Oilers would make it 4-1 thanks to a Jesse Joensuu goal. The Canes got one back as Jordan Staal was left open in front of the net, and we would head to the third 4-2.

The Canes came out on fire in the third, and got a SHG to make it 4-3 thanks to a beautiful Eric Staal goal. Jeff Skinner would tie it with less than five minutes left and we would head to OT. Just over a minute in, Jordan Eberle would bang home a goal on the PP to give Edmonton the 5-4 win.

Boston: The Bruins were in Calgary on Tuesday night for the emotional return of Jarome Iginla, and for 40 minutes it was all Flames. The Flames out-shot Boston 11-5 in the first, but Tuukka Rask would be perfect to keep things even after one.

In the second, Jiri Hudler would slip one past Rask to make it 1-0 Flames, while Reto Berra would stop all four B’s shots on goal.

The bear was poked in the third however, as the Bruins looked like a totally different team and dominated the young Flames. David Krejci would tie the game on a tip-in 13:49 in, and Reilly Smith would score the game winner just two minutes later. Rask shut the door and gave Boston a big 2-1 win on the road.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Bruins haven’t met in over two years. The teams met on November 10th, 2011 at the TD Garden in Boston in a game that was close until the end. Johnny Boychuk would blast home a goal just over seven minutes in to give the B’s a 1-0 lead, while Jordan Caron would make it 2-0 just over a minute later thanks to a brutal turn-over.

The Oil would strike back however. Ryan Smyth would tip home a shot at 12:02 to make it 2-1, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would score 29 seconds later off a feed from Taylor Hall to tie things at two.

In the second, Brad Marchand would score a PPG to put Boston up 3-2, and Tyler Seguin would score at the 6:24 mark off a Tom Gilbert turn-over to make it 4-2.

The Oilers would make it a one goal game late thanks to a Ryan Smyth tip in on the PP, but then the B’s pulled away. Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand would both get tallies in the final three minutes to seal a 6-3 win for Boston.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Former Bruin and current Oilers captain Andrew Ference faces his former team for the first time since leaving as a free agent in July. Ference was with Boston from 2007-2013 and won a Stanley Cup with the B’s. He was a big part of the locker room and defense, and will no doubt look to have a good game tonight to remind Boston of who he was with them.

Boston: Forward Reilly Smith was the forgotten part of the Seguin/Eriksson deal, but he’s been very good for Boston this season. Smith scored the game-winner on Tuesday, and is seeing regular third-line minutes for the B’s. Tonight, he gets moved to line two. He’s got really good speed and some good hands too, and can match the Oilers game quite well. I expect Smith to have a good game tonight and keep up a solid season.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Sam Gagner – Nail Yakupov

David Perron – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Jesse Joensuu – Mark Arcobello – Ales Hemsky

Luke Gazdic – Anton Lander – Ryan Jones

Anton Belov – Jeff Petry

Nick Schultz – Justin Schultz

Andrew Ference – Philip Larsen

Devan Dubnyk

Boston Bruins Lines:

Milan Lucic – David Krejci – Jarome Iginla

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Reilly Smith

Carl Soderberg – Ryan Spooner – Matt Fraser

Nick Johnson – Greg Campbell – Jordan Caron

Zdeno Chara – Johnny Boychuk

Dennis Seidenberg – Torey Krug

Matt Bartkowski – Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask