The Oilers are back in action tonight, on Hockey Night in Canada, hosting the Colorado Avalanche in the fifth of a six game homestand.
Nikita Nikitin will see his first game since before Donald Trump was a legitimate presidential candidate, and this seems to be causing a bunch of stress amongst Oiler fans. I get it, he’s a goat, but maybe (just maybe) Brandon Davidson can make him look decent and Chiarelli can convince someone to give us a prospect or an old smelly sock for Nikitin in a pre-deadline deal.
Last Games
Edmonton
*Whomp Whomp*
The Oilers fell victim to the Minniesota Wild’s propensity to ALWAYS BEAT THEM, dropping yet another game (this time 5-2) at home. The first period seemed like we were getting set up for a pretty god game, but then the Oielrs Oilered like only they can and we were treated to a bit of a disaster.
To be fair, it wasn’t all their fault. Taylor Hall had a goal called back on a delayed penalty against the Wild. the ref thought that Jared Spurgeon touched the puck (he didn’t) and established possession (yeah, no) before the Oilers winger shoveled the puck behind Darcy Kuemper (who?). That goal would have made it 3-3, and the game’s momentum would have swung towards the Oilers. Instead, they didn’t score on the ensuing power play (big surprise), and couldn’t get out of the hole they’d dug themselves.
Colorado
The Avalanche beat the Canadiens on Wednesday night, leading to Subban-gate on the internets for a while. Jarome Iginla potted the winner in that one (along with another), reminding everyone in the league that he’s not quite done yet.
Keys to the Game
Edmonton
- Force Colorado to take some penalties. I know it SOUNDS counter-intuitive, but hear me out – the Avalanche have a worse PK than the Oilers do, so why not capitalize?
- Speaking of penalties, stay out of the box (an 80% PK isn’t that great – just ask Montreal)
- I know it’s asking a lot, but it’d sure be nice if the Oilers could put together a complete team effort more than once every two weeks. I know HNIC isn’t the traditional place the Oilers do that, but I hope they change that tonight.
Colorado
- As we found out Tuesday night, opposing players can do just about anything they want to Taylor Hall, and will suffer ZERO consequences, so the Avs should do that.
- Shut the Oilers offence down early, or at least scoring a couple quick goals, is an almost surefire way to throw the Oil off their game. (Someday, I won’t have to say that).
- Force the Oilers to take penalties because the PP is hot garbage.
Players to Watch
Edmonton
Connor. He’s good, and I feel like the Avalanche play the same kind of style (and have a bunch of highly skilled forwards), and we might get to see a breakout.
Watch Nikita Nikitin play his way right off the team (here’s hoping, anyway).
Watch Taylor Hall, too. He’s good at hockey and he had a hell of a game on Thursday, and it’s only a matter of time before he scores a million.
Colorado
Pick one: Landeskog, Mackinnon, Duchene….all three of these guys are really good at hockey, too. And it’s kind of amazing that three of the best players in Colorado are spread out over three lines. Imagine that?
Watch Iggy, too. He’s one of my all-time favourites, and I’d LOVE it if he won a Stanley Cup someday.
Projected Lineups
Edmonton
Benoit Pouiliot – Connor McDavid – Jordan Eberle
Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell
Zack Kassian – Mark Letestu – Nail Yakupov
Lauri Korpikoski – Matt Hendricks – Iiro Pakarinen
Andrej Sekera – Justin Schultz
Darnell Nurse – Mark Fayne
Brandon Davidson – Nikita Nikitin
Cam Tal-Bot
Colorado
Mikhail Grigorenko – Matt Duchene – Jarome Iginla
Gabriel Landeskog – Carl Soderberg – Blake Comeau
Alex Tanguay – Nathan Mackinnon – Jack Skille
Cody McLeod – John Mitchell – Andreas Martinsen
Francois Beauchemin – Erik Johnson
Nick Holden – Tyson Barrie
Chris Bigras – Andrew Bodnarchuk
Calvin Pickard
Final Thoughts
If they weren’t already (and I know it’s not official) the Oilers are out of the playoffs. It’s time we turn our eyes to that other mid-April tradition – the Draft Lottery.
Auston Matthews seems to be the consensus number one skater in the draft (with someone saying that he’s not just the best 18-year old in the Swiss League, but the best player). Of course, it would be some kind of awful if the Oilers won the draft lottery AGAIN, wouldn’t it? (It would be legitimately embarrassing, actually).
But, if you’re curious as to what draft order might be, you can go here and find out.
In 50 tries, my lottery results looked like this:
There’s hope, Oiler fans. And at this point in the season, that’s all we can ask.
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