It’s game day! It feels like it’s been a month since the Oilers were on the ice, and they get to shake the rust off against Columbus (which is probably better than, say, Chicago).
I’m really looking forward to seeing the boys back on the ice, too. I mean, I saw Taylor Hall in the All-Star Game on the weekend (more on him later), but it’ll be really great to see the whole team back in action.
Last Games
Edmonton
Ummmm…… *checks* Oh yeah! The Oilers played Nashville way back on January 23rd, and got rolled 4-1. It was a particularly Oilery loss, too; it’s probably a good thing they had 9 days off afterward to recuperate. I don’t really remember what made it so Oilery, but it was ugly and I do remember being glad it was over so I could go watch Saturday Night Live.
Columbus
They lost, probably. I don’t even know. (They’re at the bottom of the league, just like the Oilers, so I’m making a reasonably well-educated guess here.)
*checks* NOPE. they’re on a 2-game win streak thanks to Montreal being AWFUL.
It’s ok, it’ll end tonight.
Keys to the Game
Edmonton
Capitalize on Columbus’ tendency to spend a lot of time in the penalty box, and actually score a power play goal or seven.
Pass the puck to (NHL All-Star) Taylor Hall. He’s very Good at Hockey.
Columbus
Take penalties. The Oilers PP is pretty brutal, so I expect the Blue Jackets to score at least 2 short-handed goals. Because Oilers.
Players to Watch
Edmonton
Taylor Hall. He’s leading the team in points, points per game (I think), goals and assists. He’s also an All-Star, and (as you all well know by now) the king of my heart.
Oh yeah. Connor’s back, too.
Columbus
I don’t even know who plays there anymore. Brandon Dubinsky? Is Bobrovsky still in net? Is Columbus a real team, or did we invent them?
Lineups
Edmonton
Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell
Benoit Pouliot – Connor McDavid – Jordan Eberle
Zack Kassian – Mark letestu – Nail Yakupov
Lauri Korpikoski – Matt Hendricks – Iiro pakarinen
Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Griffin Reinhart – Eric Gryba
Darnell Nurse – Adam Clendening
Cam Tal-Bot
Columbus
Scott Hartnell – Alexander Wennberg – Brandon Saad
Boone Jenner – Brandon Dubinsky – Cam Atkinson
Kerby Rychel – William Karlsson – Nick Foligno
Matt Calvert – Gregory Campbell – Rene Bourque
Ryan Murray – Seth Jones
Jack Johnson – Cody Goloubef
Justin Falk – Dalton Prout
Joonas Korpisalo
Final Thoughts
The All-Star weekend was an absolute delight for the first time in a really long time. The NHL tried its best to choke the fun out of everything, but fun prevailed and everyone won.
John Scott was a pretty big story, obviously, and I’m really glad he won the ASG MVP award.
I would like to send a shout out to my favourite player, Taylor Hall. I was fortunate enough to see a bunch of interviews with him, and see his contribution to the Players Tribune, and watch him having a blast out on the bench and on the ice. But what caught me a little by surprise were the following things: During the game, when John Scott was being interviewed on the bench, Hall leaned over and said “Give this man a contract extension.” Obviously, Hall’s opinion has no bearing on Scott’s contract status, but he didn’t need to say anything. The other thing was this story, relayed by John Scott yesterday on Tim and Sid:
I just…. I can’t. Taylor Hall is better than all of us. https://t.co/Wa14CMM7qn
— Megan (@mig14) February 2, 2016
Anyway. Hall’s a stand-up guy. They should just slap the C on his chest and get it over with.
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
