Oilers Gameday – Vs. Devils

The Oilers return to the ice tonight to conclude their two game homestand against the New Jersey Devils. This is the first of two meetings between the sides on the season, they’ll finish their season series in Jersey in February. Edmonton will start a five game eastern road trip on Monday night.

The Oilers will be without F’s Connor McDavid, Rob Klinkhammer and Luke Gazdic tonight, all of them are currently on the IR. D Andrew Ference is expected to be a healthy scratch along with F Andrew Miller, while D Andrej Sekera is “very doubtful” with the flu. The Devils will be without F’s Ryane Clowe, Patrik Elias and Tuomo Ruutu, all of whom are on the IR.

Anders Nilsson starts for the Oilers while Keith Kinkaid gets the start for the Devils.

Last Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers hosted the Blackhawks on Wednesday night in what was a thrilling tilt. The Oilers dominated the first period, but couldn’t solve Corey Crawford even after firing eleven shots on him in twenty minutes.

The Hawks got a break in the second, getting a power-play and converting thanks to a Duncan Keith goal 7:26 in. Artemi Panarin scored 14:41 in after the Hawks pushed hard for the insurance marker. Jordan Eberle scored at the 17:14 mark on a breakaway to keep the Oilers alive.

Darnell Nurse fed Benoit Pouliot in front just four minutes into the third to tie things, but Andrew Shaw beat Brandon Davidson and scored on his own rebound at 11:44 to give the Hawks their lead back. Edmonton pushed hard and tied things in the final minutes compliments a Leon Draisaitl tally. In overtime, Marian Hossa was sprung free just over a minute in and scored top-shelf to give the Hawks the 4-3 victory.

New Jersey: The Devils were in Calgary on Tuesday night to battle the Flames. Calgary dominated the opening period and it showed as they scored a pair of goals. TJ Brodie scored 10:04 in to open the scoring while Matt Stajan added insurance just over three minutes later.

The Devils got it within one just 4:01 into the second period as Bobby Farnham scored but that was as close as the Devils got it. David Jones and Jordin Tootoo would trade goals later in the frame, but it would prove to only be for stat padding purposes.

The Devils pushed in the third, but Karri Ramo shut the door to preserve Calgary’s 3-2 victory.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Devils last met in New Jersey back in February of last season. The Devils opened the scoring 5:47 in thanks to Patrik Elias’ eighth goal of the year. After that, it was all Edmonton.

Oscar Klefbom would tie the game with 36 seconds left in the first period, then Nail Yakupov would fire home a power-play goal 12:45 into the middle frame to give Edmonton a lead they would not lose. Ben Scrivens shut the door in the third, holding the fort to give Edmonton a 2-1 victory.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: Get pucks on net tonight! Keith Kinkaid is a decent young goalie, but he hasn’t played in a little while and isn’t exactly Corey Schneider. If Edmonton can test him with their sharp shooters tonight, they’ll have a good chance to win this game and fill the net.

New Jersey: A quick start is key for the Devils tonight. Edmonton is a notoriously slow team out of the gate, while the Devils have been strong in this regard all year. If they can get an early lead, they might be able to force the Oilers to play a desperate game.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oscar Klefbom is hot right now, he’s playing some tremendous hockey here. That said, he’s battling the flu and while he’s expected to play tonight, he could be slow. I’ll be interested to see if the flu halts his strong stretch of play.

New Jersey: Mike Cammalleri has dominated Edmonton over the years and he’s been hot this season so far. Against Edmonton’s below average goaltending and weak defense, I’ll be watching Cammy closely to see if he torches his former rival once again.

Quick Hits:

Devils F Mike Cammalleri has three points (one goal, two assists) in his last four games but he is battling an illness. He’s expected to play tonight. This will be Keith Kinkaid’s first career start against Edmonton. Anders Nilsson, while with the Islanders, posted a 3-1-0 record and a .952 SV% in four games against the Devils.

Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell

Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Matt Hendricks – Mark Letestu – Nail Yakupov

Lauri Korpikoski – Anton Lander – Iiro Pakarinen

Darnell Nurse – Eric Gryba

Justin Schultz – Mark Fayne

Brandon Davidson – Griffin Reinhart

Anders Nilsson

New Jersey Devils Lines:

Mike Cammalleri – Adam Henrique – Lee Stempniak

Sergey Kalinin – Travis Zajac – Kyle Palmieri

Jiri Tlusty – Jacob Josefson – Jordin Tootoo

Bobby Farnham – Stephen Gionta – Brian O’Neill

Andy Greene – Adam Larsson

John Moore – Damon Severson

Jon Merrill – David Schlemko

Keith Kinkaid