Oilers Gameday – Vs. Flames

The Oilers will continue their ever important homestand tonight as the Calgary Flames come into town for a Halloween night battle. This will be the second meeting on the season between the two teams, their first coming two weeks ago to the day in Calgary.

The Oilers are slated to be without F Jordan Eberle, D Justin Schultz, D Griffin Reinhart and F Rob Klinkhammer, all of whom are currently injured. D Mark Fayne and F Luke Gazdic will be the healthy scratches. The Flames will enter the game with two players on the IR. F Lance Bouma and F Michael Ferland.

Cam Talbot gets the net for the Oilers, while Karri Ramo gets the nod for the Flames.

Last Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers hosted Montreal in a game that seemed like a tale of two games on Thursday night. The Habs dominated the first period, getting three goals in the frame. Brendan Gallagher opened the scoring with a power-play marker, while Torrey Mitchell and Alex Galchenyuk would each add insurance markers.

The final forty minutes, however, were all Oilers. Edmonton pushed the pace and peppered Carey Price with shot after shot, but they simply could not solve the MVP caliber netminder. Finally, at the 19:08 mark of the second, Leon Draisaitl got the Oil on the board with a power-play goal.

The Oilers got within one at 6:15 of the third period thanks to a Brandon Davidson wrist shot, then tied it as Connor McDavid sprung Benoit Pouliot in on a breakaway at the 10:43 mark. Leon Draisaitl would beat Price with just 1:02 left, while Cam Talbot slammed the door shut to give the Oil a thrilling 4-3 victory.

Calgary: The Flames hosted the Canadiens last night in a game that the Flames would like to forget. Montreal opened the scoring 5:20 in with a Dale Weise goal and never looked back. Jiri Hudler, Nathan Beaulieu and Josh Jooris would trade goals in the middle frame, but the Habs would run away after that.

Dale Weise would add his second of the night 6:57 into the middle frame, then Devante Smith-Pelly would give Montreal the insurance they needed. Paul Byron would make it 5-2, while Weise would complete the hat-trick to give Montreal a dominating 6-2 victory.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Flames met two weeks ago in Calgary for the first Battle of Alberta on the season. Edmonton dominated most of this tilt, never once trailing to their rivals. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins opened the scoring just 12:59 in, and the Oil were off and running.

David Jones tied the game just 5:07 into the middle frame, but a response goal from Connor McDavid at the 16:31 mark give Edmonton a lead they would not lose. Jones potted his second in the third period, but McDavid, Nail Yakupov and Taylor Hall would all score to give Edmonton a massive 5-2 victory on the road over their rivals.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: Use your speed in the neutral zone to push the Flame defenders back and gain the zone. For all this talk about how good Calgary is, they really struggle in terms of giving up shots. If Edmonton can use their speed on them, like others have recently, then they’ll get ample chances to score in this one.

Calgary: Be a bully, really. In the first meeting, Edmonton pushed around the Flames in a surprising manor. If Calgary reverts back to pushing around and bulling Edmonton tonight, they’ll snag two huge points from their rivals from the north.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Connor McDavid is on another level right now. His third period against Montreal on Thursday was simply special, and he shows no signs of slowing down. His first game against Calgary was a huge success and I expect another solid showing tonight against the Flames.

Calgary: TJ Brodie did not play in the first meeting, but he’s back and he’s healthy. Brodie was a thorn in Edmonton’s side last season and surly will be a pain to deal with on the blueline tonight. I’ll be interested to see how he holds up against Connor McDavid here.

Quick Hits:

Connor McDavid has 11 points during his seven game point streak. McDavid also has 12 points on the season, good for a top ten spot in NHL scoring overall. Nail Yakupov also has a seven game point streak going on, he has ten points overall on the season. The Flames swept Edmonton last season and have not lost in Rexall Place for almost two full years.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Leon Draisaitl

Benoit Pouliot – Connor McDavid – Nail Yakupov

Anton Slepyshev – Iiro Pakarinen – Teddy Purcell

Luke Gazdic – Anton Lander – Mark Letestu

Darnell Nurse – Andrej Sekera

Oscar Klefbom – Brandon Davidson

Andrew Ference – Eric Gryba

Cam Talbot

Calgary Flames Lines:

Joe Colborne – Sean Monahan – Jiri Hudler

Johnny Gaudreau – Sam Bennett – Michael Frolik

Mason Raymond – Mikael Backlund – David Jones

Derek Grant – Matt Stajan – Josh Jooris

Mark Giordano – T.J. Brodie

Kris Russell – Dennis Wideman

Deryk Engelland – Dougie Hamilton

Karri Ramo