Oilers Gameday vs Arizona

As you can already tell, I have taken over Oilers Gameday for today! Megan was tied up and I hope to keep this thing afloat until she’s back. She’s a million times better than me at this, so hamper those expectations! But let’s get after it!

The Oilers are on the road tonight in Arizona for the first of three on the California road trip. Since the trade deadline, the Oilers have gone 6-5 and have been playing some solid hockey for the most part. Todd McLellan and company are looking for a strong finish from the Oilers in the final 7 games. They run into a tough Coyote team tonight. The desert dogs have outscored the Oil 12-4 in three games this season.

Last Game

The Oilers started pretty slow against the Avs in Edmonton. For the first 6 or 7 minutes they didn’t have much giddy up. But as time went on they settled in and started playing Oilers hockey. (The good stuff) not the (#HereComeTheOilers) kind of hockey. Regardless they found themselves down 2-0 to the Avs after 40 minutes. They played fairly well 5 on 5, but once again the Oilers powerplay let them down for about the 40th time this year. Todd McLellan wasn’t pleased post game and had some choice words for some of his talented players up front.

Keys To the game

• Special teams will be crucial if the Oilers want to get a W in Glendale tonight. The Coyotes are not very strong on the penalty kill and the Oilers need to expose that if they want to leave Arizona with 2 points.
  Oilers PP- 17.1% (Ranked 22nd in the NHL)
  Coyotes PP- 18.4% (Rank 16th in the NHL)Oilers PK- 80.8% (Ranked 20th in the NHL)
  Coyotes PK- 78.5% (Rank 25th in the NHL)
• Quick start- The Coyotes are very hard to beat when they score first. They plug up the middle of the ice very well. Makes the powerplay that more important, especially early in the game
• Traffic to the net- Mike Smith was lights out last time he played the Oilers. He shut them out. Smith has been on his game and if they want to beat him tonight they’ll have to funnel bodies to the blue paint.
• Simple game/limit turnovers- If you turn the puck over in the neutral zone against the Coyotes, it ends up typically in odd man rushes against. They must take care of the puck, get it deep and get in on the forecheck against the Coyotes young defense.

Players to watch

Cam Talbot– Oilers will need him to be strong once again if they have a slow start. The Oilers have played a lot of hockey recently. He’s been a top 3 goalie in the league since December 15th and Cam’s save percentage hovering around .930 since then. That’s elite. Especially the way he started the season. His season save percentage is .920.

Zack Kassian– Had a strong night against the Avalanche. 7 hits, a couple PIM’s and an assist. The Oilers will be hoping he can continue off that outing.

Oliver Ekman Larsson– he’s missed the last 6 games for the Coyotes with an upper body injury. If I was a betting man, he probably gets back in tonight. Which is a huge boost for their team and offense.

Max Domi– He’s the leader up front for Arizona. The Coyotes have been shutout in two straight games against the Lightning and Sharks. Look for Max to try and get them going tonight.

Lineups

Arizona Coyotes projected lineup

Tanguay – Vermette – Duclair
Sekac – Hanzal – Domi
Reider – Richardson – Doan
Plotnikov- Gordon – Chipchura

Ekman Larsson – Murphy
Dahlbeck – Michalek
Connauton – Stone

And the birthday boy Mike Smith will be between the pipes.
It’s also worth noting the Coyotes were rotating 5 guys on the fourth line this morning, so we may see a different body or two there.

Edmonton Oilers projected lineup

Kassian- McDavid – Eberle
Hall – Draisaitl – Pakarinen
Korpikoski – RNH – Yakupov
Hendricks – Letestu – Cracknell

Sekera – Fayne
Oesterle – Reinhart
Nurse – Clendening

Cam Talbot between the pipes.
It’s suspected that Pat Maroon has the flu and won’t be able to go tonight. Look for Kassian or possibly RNH to move up on to the top line.

Final Thoughts

The Oilers are the more talented team tonight, but they need to play smart effective hockey. They’ve played a ton of hockey the last little while. Once they finish up this 3 game road trip they only have 3 games in the final 13 days of the season.

Cheers!