Oilers Gameday – Vs. Coyotes

The Oilers continue their three game homestand tonight with a divisional battle against the Coyotes. It’ll be the fourth meeting between the sides this season, and the second at Rexall Place. The Coyotes have dominated the season series to this point, winning all three previous battles.

The Coyotes are currently on the outside looking in playoff wise, but are right in the thick of things and have games in hand. The Yotes look to be buyers for the upcoming deadline, and will no doubt look to supplement their attack with some offensive help. The team is relatively healthy right now too.

As for the Oilers, they have lost five in a row, again, and look really bad. The team was clearly outplayed on Tuesday night by the Canucks, and the schedule doesn’t get much easier. The death march, if you didn’t already know, is in full effect now. Things are ugly in Edmonton.

Forwards Nail Yakupov and Ales Hemsky have been skating recently, and it appears that Nail Yakupov will be back tonight. Hemsky, who is very likely to be traded, will not be in the lineup tonight, but hopefully could be back next week.

Ben Scrivens and Mike Smith are the expected goalies in this matchup.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers last took the ice on Tuesday night at home, as they hosted the Vancouver Canucks. Let’s just say things were less than ideal. Vancouver dominated the first period, out-shooting Edmonton 9-6 and getting all the quality scoring chances. The Canucks also scored first, as Kellan Lain poked his first NHL goal over the line at the 5:14 mark.

In the second, the Canucks kept the pressure up, and got their insurance goal as Zack Kassian fired home a shot at the 7:59 mark. The Oilers would close the gap in terms of play the rest of the period, but simply could not solve Roberto Luongo, who made some terrific saves.

In the third, the Oilers finally showed some desperation and carried the play, out-shooting the Canucks 12-5 in the frame. The Oilers also drew within one thanks to a heads-up play by Taylor Hall to find Jordan Eberle at the 15 minute mark. The Oilers would try and tie things late, but would be stalled by Luongo, who would seal the 2-1 Canucks win.

Phoenix: The Coyotes were last in action earlier this week in Calgary against the Flames. The Yotes, who out-shot the Flames 11-6, were the better team in the first, but found themselves down thanks to a Sean Monahan goal at the 11:44 mark.

Calgary would extend their lead at the 8:48 mark of the second as Lance Bouma would find the back of the net. The Yotes would finally apply some pressure back, and even get a SHG as Antoine Vermette would sneak away and beat Ramo. The Flames would get their two-goal lead back as Matt Stajan would get a goal at the 16:01 mark.

In the third, the Coyotes would get desperate, and would get the game within one. Shane Doan would score at the 6:50 mark. The Yotes would fight until the final seconds, but simply couldn’t solve Ramo and saw their offensive woes continue. The final result? A disappointing 3-2 loss to the Flames.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Yotes last met in the desert back on New Year’s eve in a tough one for the visitors. The Coyotes came out flying, and absolutely dominated Edmonton in the first period. The Yotes out-shot the Oilers by a startling 21-6 margin. The Yotes were rewarded with the game’s first goal too, as Keith Yandle would beat Bryzgalov, who stopped 20 shots.

The Oilers would tie things as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would tip-home a Taylor Hall shot in the final few minutes to save face on a terrible frame. The Oilers, determined to play a better second, took the lead 25 seconds into the middle frame as David Perron pulled away on a break-away and beat Smith. Taylor Hall would find Justin Schultz on a beautiful pass six minutes later to put Edmonton up two.

The better team usually finds a way to win, and the Yotes domination was not to go for nothing. Tim Kennedy would sneak a weak shot past Bryzgalov at the 12:05 mark to make it a one goal game, and swing the momentum back in the Yotes favor.

In the third, Phoenix controlled the pace of the play and tied the game with the extra attacker as Mikkel Boedker would snap home a shot.

In OT, the Oilers would have an embarrassing defensive breakdown that would result in Keith Yandle beating Bryzgalov with just six seconds left, completing Edmonton’s collapse with a 4-3 OT defeat.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oilers forward David Perron has gone cold recently, but has had some success against the Coyotes. He’s going to play with Sam Gagner and Nail Yakupov tonight and will be put in a position to succeed. Perron has had a great season to this point, and is due for a goal. I’m going to say he gets it tonight, and would keep an eye on him.

Phoenix: Yotes defender Oliver Ekman-Larsson is easily their top defender and will likely get tasked with shadowing the Hall line tonight. This is exactly the kind of defender the Oilers need, so that’s one reason to keep an eye on him. The main reason however, is that battle between OEL and the Hall line will likely go a long way to determining this game. OEL is worth watching.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

David Perron – Sam Gagner – Nail Yakupov

Matt Hendricks – Boyd Gordon – Ryan Smyth

Jesse Joensuu – Mark Arcobello – Ryan Jones

Andrew Ference – Justin Schultz

Anton Belov – Corey Potter

Jeff Petry – Martin Marincin

Ben Scrivens

Phoenix Coyotes Lines:

Shane Doan – Mike Ribeiro – Radim Vrbata

Lauri Korpikoski – Martin Hanzal – Mikkel Boedker

Tim Kennedy – Antoine Vermette – David Moss

Kyle Chipchura – Rob Klinkhammer- Jordan Szwarz

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Zbynek Michalek

Michael Stone – Keith Yandle

Derek Morris – David Schlemko

Mike Smith