Oilers Gameday – Vs. Columbus

The Edmonton Oilers will finally end their toughest stretch of games this season tonight when they return to the ice to battle the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first of two meetings between the sides this season. After playing 23 games tightly bunched together, Edmonton will get three days off before returning to the ice on Saturday night. Finally, the schedule opens up a bit.

Edmonton is coming off of a 3-2 victory over Winnipeg on Sunday night, and the team has recorded points in seven of eight games played this month. Columbus, meanwhile, comes to town as one of the hottest teams in the NHL and has the best road point percentage in the entire league.

Cam Talbot will start for the Oilers while Sergei Bobrovsky gets the nod for Columbus.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers have to play a structured game tonight against a Columbus team that has yet to lose in regulation to a team inside the NHL’s top ten currently. This is a game where the Oilers can’t get into a track meet, they have to play their game and play within the system. If they can do that, they should be able to create chances and have a good shot to grab two points.

Columbus: The Blue Jackets arguably have the hottest goalie in the NHL right now, so they need to make sure he sees most of the shots tonight. The Oilers don’t really have a threat from the outside, but they can make a lot happen with looks in tight and in the slot. If Columbus can prevent that and limit the traffic in front, they should be fine.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Brandon Davidson will return to the lineup tonight for the first time since suffering an injury on opening night. He’ll be tasked with replacing Darnell Nurse’s minutes after the young defender was sidelined with an ankle issue. Davidson was a key player for the Oilers last year, and I’ll be interested in seeing how he looks in his return tonight.

Columbus: Former Oiler Sam Gagner just might be saving his once promising career right now. After less than stellar stints in Arizona and Philadelphia, Gagner caught on with the Blue Jackets this summer and has not disappointed. In 25 games he has 11-8-19 and has been a big factor on the powerplay.

The Lines:

Some changes tonight for Edmonton as Davidson returns on defense while Jesse Puljujarvi is back in the lineup at forward. Dillon Simpson, who has looked good in his first NHL action, will take a seat on defense while Anton Slepyshev gets another spin in the gondola.

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Milan Lucic – Connor McDavid – Drake Caggiula

Patrick Maroon – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Benoit Pouliot – Leon Draisaitl – Jesse Puljujarvi

Tyler Pitlick – Mark Letestu – Zack Kassian

Oscar Klefbom – Adam Larsson

Andrej Sekera – Kris Russell

Brandon Davidson – Matt Benning

Cam Talbot

Columbus Blue Jackets Lines:

Brandon Saad – Alexander Wennberg – Nick Foligno

Boone Jenner – Brandon Dubinsky – Cam Atkinson

Scott Hartnell – William Karlsson – Josh Anderson

Matt Calvert – Lukas Sedlak – Sam Gagner

Zack Werenski – Seth Jones

Jack Johnson – David Savard

Markus Nutivaara – Ryan Murray

Sergei Bobrovsky

Game Notes:

The Oilers and Blue Jackets split their season series one year ago with each side winning a game in regulation time. The Oilers hope that the trend of the home team winning continues, as that has happened in three of the previous four meetings between the teams. Edmonton has points in three of their last four (1-1-2) against the Jackets.

While Auston Matthews and Patrick Laine have stolen headlines, Zach Werenski has put together an exceptional rookie season in Columbus, becoming a top pairing defender in just a few months. Werenski played at Michigan of the NCAA last season and finished the year by winning a Calder Cup with the formerly known Lake Erie (now Cleveland) Monsters of the AHL.

The Oilers only have four wins against the Eastern Conference this season, and three of those decisions have come against the Metropolitan Division (Islanders, Capitals, Hurricanes).

Prediction:

The Oilers were sloppy and a little lucky on Sunday night, and even though they won they’ll need to be better if they want a chance in this hockey game. The good news? The Oilers have, historically, completely dominated the Blue Jackets in Edmonton.

I don’t see that trend continuing tonight, however, mainly because this is a completely different Blue Jackets team. Expect a tight and entertaining game at Rogers Place, but in the end I think Columbus wins this 4-3 in overtime. Maroon, Puljujarvi and Kassian score for Edmonton, while Jones, Atkinson and Calvert get regulation tallies for the Jackets. Wennberg ends up with the overtime winner.