Oilers Gameday – Vs. Canucks

The Oilers conclude their seven game home-stand tonight against the hated Vancouver Canucks at Rexall Place, in what will be the third meeting of the season between the sides. Edmonton recently had a four game winning streak snapped, while Vancouver is coming off of a thrilling win on Thursday. This will be the first game of a set of back-to-backs for the Canucks, who host Nashville Sunday.

The Canucks will be without forward Alex Burrows, who was suspended for three games on Friday afternoon for a hit he threw on Thursday night. Edmonton will be without forward Luke Gazdic, who was sent to Oklahoma City on Wednesday for a conditioning stint.

Edmonton will start Ben Scrivens, who has been terrific recently, while Vancouver will likely counter with Ryan Miller.

The Last Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers last took the ice on Wednesday night when they hosted Nashville. The game started out pretty even, but quickly went south for the home team. The Predators scored a goal that was called back mid-way through the frame, but kept peppering Ben Scrivens with shots. Scrivens was perfect however, and kept the game scoreless after twenty.

Nashville then dominated, taking the lead with two quick goals as Craig Smith and Taylor Beck both beat Ben Scrivens one minute and 26 seconds apart about mid-way through. The Predators kept up the pressure, but couldn’t beat Scrivens a third time.

The final frame saw Nashville put the game away, as Shea Weber scored at the 24 second mark of the period. Taylor Hall scored at 8:54, but Craig Smith scored his second of the game at 12:24 of the frame to put the game away. Pekka Rinne stopped 26 shots to solidify the 4-1 win for Nashville.

Vancouver: The Canucks battled the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night in Vancouver, in a game that ended up going back and forth. The first period was even, as the sides split the shot attempts and scoring chances, and fittingly ended the frame tied at zero. The second period was even as well, with both sides putting eleven shots on net. Vancouver broke through however, as Nick Bonino found the back of the net.

The third period was a back and forth frame, as Vancouver built their lead to two thanks to a Brad Richardson goal 2:17 into the period. The Canadiens struck right back however, as Alex Galchenyuk beat Ryan Miller at the 12:11 mark to put Montreal within one. The Habs smelt blood, and kept up the pressure, eventually tying the game as Max Pacioretty beat Miller.

The teams headed to overtime, but things didn’t last long. Montreal took a penalty, and as a result the Canucks were handed a golden chance to win the game. It was a chance they would not waste, as Daniel Sedin beat Price at the 2:45 mark. Ryan Miller stopped 23 shots for the 3-2 win.

The Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Canucks met 15 days ago at Rexall Place in the second meeting of the season between the sides. Edmonton came out fired up and battled from the start, playing an inspired first period and keeping it even with their rivals. The sides ended the period even, as both Miller and Scrivens battled hard.

The Canucks started to take the game over in the second, and found a way to beat Scrivens at the 15:49 mark of the frame, as Radim Vrbata was left alone in front of the net and buried a Daniel Sedin feed.

The third period saw Edmonton push back, but were totally denied by Ryan Miller, who stopped 28 Oiler shots for a massive shut-out victory. Daniel Sedin buried an empty netter with 15 seconds left, sealing the 2-0 Canucks victory.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers simply were not engaged on Wednesday night, and need to change that tonight. The key to the Oilers’ success tonight is to play a puck possession game. The Canucks will be starting a hot Ryan Miller, but don’t have a dominate defensive unit. If Edmonton can play the puck possession game they want, they should snag this win.

Vancouver: The Canucks are a team that usually physically dominates Edmonton, and shuts down the Oiler attack. They key for tonight is very simple, if Vancouver can play physical and knock Edmonton off of their game, then they should be able to snag the win here tonight.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oilers defender Mark Fayne has played much better as of late, and he’ll need to be on his game tonight. The Oilers have been dominated by the Sedin twins over the years, and Fayne will need to step up and change that to give Edmonton a chance here. He’ll be worth watching just for that, can he shut the twins down?

Vancouver: The Canucks added Radim Vrbata in free agency, and he’s been a massive get for the secondary scoring in Vancouver. With Alex Burrows out tonight, Vrbata will need to have an impact. I’d keep an eye on the goalscorer tonight, because he’s going to have ample chances to burn a team that has some defensive issues.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Benoit Pouliot – Leon Draisaitl – Nail Yakupov

David Perron – Mark Arcobello – Teddy Purcell

Matt Hendricks – Boyd Gordon – Jesse Joensuu

Brad Hunt – Justin Schultz

Andrew Ference – Jeff Petry

Martin Marincin – Mark Fayne

Ben Scrivens

Vancouver Canucks Lines:

Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Radim Vrbata

Chris Higgins – Nick Bonino – Jannik Hansen

Shawn Matthias – Brad Richardson – Zack Kassian

Derek Dorsett – Linden Vey – Tom Sestito

Alex Edler – Chris Tanev

Dan Hamhuis – Kevin Bieksa

Luca Sbisa – Yannick Weber

Ryan Miller