Oilers Gameday – Vs. Canadiens

The Oilers, after three straight losses to potential cup contenders, return to the ice tonight to battle the Montreal Canadiens in the first of two meetings between the teams on the season. The Habs last appearance in Edmonton happened almost a year to the day in late October, 2014.

The Oilers will be without F Jordan Eberle, F Rob Klinkhammer, D Justin Schultz and D Griffin Reinhart tonight due to injury while D Mark Fayne is a healthy scratch. The team recalled F Leon Draisaitl earlier on Thursday.

The Habs come into this game relatively healthy, with only F Zack Kassian missing from the fold due to his off-ice issue this fall.

Cam Talbot gets the start for Edmonton, while Carey Price gets the go for Montreal.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers last played a heartbreaking tilt on Tuesday night in Minnesota against the Wild. The Oilers outplayed the sloppy Wild in the opening frame, but two mistakes led to goals by Ryan Suter and Marco Scandella. Taylor Hall would get one back, but the Oil trailed after twenty.

Iiro Pakarinen would score 4:41 into the middle frame to knot things up, and Edmonton appeared to take things over. Darnell Nurse tallied his first NHL goal 3:38 into the third, and it looked as if Edmonton was going to snap their two game losing skid.

That didn’t last, however, as the Oilers defense fell apart in the final frame. Ryan Suter would tie things with his second of the night at 8:43, while Charlie Coyle would score the game winning goal at 9:26. Devan Dubnyk stopped a late rally to preserve the 4-3 decision.

Montreal: The Canadiens last battled on Tuesday night in Vancouver, a night that would represent a first. The Habs came out slow, and Vancouver made them pay by scoring 2:30 in compliments Jared McCann. Luca Sbisa would add insurance at the 9:12 mark, while McCann would again beat Price at 15:52 to make it 3-0 Vancouver.

A scoreless second gave Montreal a reason to hope, as did Torrey Mitchell’s goal 2:54 into the third, but the Canucks stepped on the gas and put things away. Radim Vrbata scored on the power-play at 7:50, while Derek Dorsett put the nail in the coffin three minutes later with his second of the season. The 5-1 loss was Montreal’s first on the season.

Last Meeting:

These two last hooked up in Montreal back on February 12th, 2015. The Oilers outplayed Montreal much of the game, but the Habs hung tight. Christian Thomas scored his first NHL goal just 16:25 in to open things up, while Alex Galchenyuk added insurance 1:06 into the middle frame.

The Oil battled back, however, as Matt Hendricks and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would each score in the second. Max Pacioretty’s 25th of the season came 9:17 into the third, and things looked bleak for Edmonton. With the net empty, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins pushed home a rebound to tie things at 19:35, forcing us to OT where Anton Lander scored the winner 1:47 in. The 4-3 win gave Edmonton a season sweep.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: SHOOT THE PUCK! The Oilers still are not shooting enough, and that’s an issue. You can’t score if you don’t shoot, that’s a proven fact. Against Price, who struggles against Edmonton, tonight is the perfect chance for Edmonton to fire shots in bulk and create some offense that way. The Habs aren’t great defensively.

Montreal: Attacking Edmonton’s defenders will be key tonight. Whenever Edmonton’s blue-liners have the puck, the Habs would be wise to use their speed to put pressure on them. That will lead to turnovers, goals, and likely two points.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Nail Yakupov is playing his best hockey right now, and it’s coming with Connor McDavid as his pivot. Yak seemingly has had more success against the east in recent years too, so I’ll be interested to see what he can do tonight. Safe to say I’ll be watching him closely.

Montreal: Quietly, Max Pacioretty is one of the NHL’s best goal scorers. The American power-forward is leading the Habs attack and is deadly with his shot. Oilers fans don’t get to see him very often, so it’d be wise to watch closely tonight.

Quick Hits:

The Oilers swept the season series with the Canadiens a year ago, in fact they shut them out at Rexall Place. According to Jack Michaels of 630 CHED, the Oilers are 14-4-3 in their last 21 games against Montreal. Connor McDavid and Nail Yakupov each have six game point streaks going, the Oilers are 3-3-0 in that stretch. This is the first of a back-to-back set for the Habs, who will be in Calgary tomorrow night.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Leon Draisaitl

Benoit Pouliot – Connor McDavid – Nail Yakupov

Iiro Pakarinen – Anton Lander – Teddy Purcell

TBA – Mark Letestu – Anton Slepyshev

Darnell Nurse – Andrej Sekera

Brandon Davidson – Oscar Klefbom

Andrew Ference – Eric Gryba

Cam Talbot

Montreal Canadiens Lines:

Max Pacioretty – Tomas Plekanec – Brendan Gallagher

Lars Eller – Alex Galchenyuk – Paul Byron

Tomas Fleischmann – David Desharnais – Dale Weise

Brian Flynn – Torrey Mitchell – Devante Smith-Pelly

Andrei Markov – PK Subban

Alexei Emelin – Jeff Petry

Nathan Beaulieu – Tom Gilbert

Carey Price