Oilers Gameday – Vs. Lightning

Five games, five losses. It’s been a nightmare start to the season, and it’s EXACTLY what Edmonton had to avoid this year. It’s tragedy. Tonight, Edmonton tries to get on track and save their season as they host the Tampa By Lightning, their first non-divisional opponent. The Oilers enter this hockey game looking to continue what seemed like some defensive improvement from Friday’s loss, and look to jump start an offense that was held goalless by Ryan Miller on Friday.

Bolts defender Victor Hedman was injured in Saturday’s game, and will this tilt. Jonathan Drouin, the third overall pick in 2013, was recalled from the AHL on Sunday, but will not make his NHL debut until Tuesday against the Flames.

Ben Scrivens is expected to be in net for Edmonton, while Evgeni Nabokov is likely to get the start for Tampa Bay, who enters this game in the middle of their first west coast trip of the season.

The Last Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers last took the ice on Friday night, and while they looked better, Edmonton still was just simply not good enough to get a win against Vancouver. The first period ended scoreless and was one of the more even frames Edmonton has played all season, but mistakes would eventually catch up to the reeling Oil.

Radim Vrbata was left open at the side of the net and went top-shelf on Scrivens at the 15:49 mark of the second period. That would be all Ryan Miller needed in this one, as the American netminder would shut the door on Edmonton’s attack.

Miller would stop all 28 shots he faced, including seven in the final frame, to get his first shut-out as a Canuck, while Daniel Sedin would score his first of the season into an empty net in the final seconds to secure a 2-0 victory for Vancouver.

Tampa Bay: The Bolts traveled to Vancouver to battle the Canucks on Saturday, and brought with them a killer offensive attack. Steven Stamkos scored just 53 seconds in to give the Bolts a lead. It was Stammer’s fourth of the season already.

Vancouver tied it at the 7:15 mark with a Chris Higgins goal, but Stamkos would answer back with his second of the night just over a minute later. The second period saw Alex Edler and Ryan Callahan trade goals, giving Tampa a lead heading into the final twenty minutes.

Alex Killorn would put the game away about six minutes in with his second of the season, which put the game at 4-2. Ben Bishop would shut the door, stopping all twelve Canuck shots in the final frame.

The Last Meeting:

Tampa and Edmonton last met in January of last year at Rexall Place in a game which ended up being a high-scoring tilt. Edmonton found themselves down early, as Tampa got on the board with a power-play marker compliments of Nikita Kucherov just 2:43 into the game.

Edmonton bounced back with three straight goals to close the frame out, as Jordan Eberle found the back of the net twice and Luke Gazdic scored his second of the year. Tampa tied things in the middle frame thanks to a pair, one from Victor Hedman and one from Val Filppula, but Edmonton would take over in the final frame.

Boyd Gordon and Taylor Hall would score goals to put Edmonton on top, while Ilya Bryzgalov would close the door to give Edmonton a 5-3 win. This forced a split in the season series, one game a piece.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers need to keep building off of what they did on Friday night. There were far less defensive breakdowns against Vancouver, which was a welcomed sight. The Oilers, if they want any hope of winning against a solid hockey club, need to take care of their own zone. Building off of Friday’s performance will build confidence and give the team a chance to win.

Tampa Bay: The Bolts offense is killer, and if they get a fair amount of chances tonight, it could get ugly. Tampa’s key to the game is to use their skill to pressure Edmonton. If they allow guys like Stamkos, Palat, Johnson and Filppula to run this game, then they will walk away with two easy points. Against a weak defensive team, using their speed and skill is an absolute must.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oilers forward Jordan Eberle has struggled so far this season. Through five games, Ebs has no goals and has looked almost lost in some games. This isn’t the player we have grown used to the last few seasons. That said, Jordan has started out slow before, and usually starts to pick it up a few games into the season. I’ll go on the record and say he has a big game tonight, and scores his first of the year.

Tampa Bay: Is there any doubt here? Steven Stamkos is the NHL’s best goal scorer, and has started this season on yet another tear. Stammer scored twice on Saturday against the Canucks, and already has one hat-trick on the season. He’s, quite frankly, an extremely special player. Oiler fans don’t get to see him a lot, so tonight I highly recommend keeping a close eye on him. This is a talent that we shouldn’t take for granted.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Teddy Purcell – Leon Draisaitl – David Perron

Benoit Pouliot – Mark Arcobello – Nail Yakupov

Matt Hendricks – Boyd Gordon – Jesse Joensuu

Nikita Nikitin – Justin Schultz

Andrew Ference – Jeff Petry

Martin Marincin – Mark Fayne

Ben Scrivens

Tampa Bay Lightning Lines:

Onrej Palat – Steve Stamkos – Ryan Callahan

Alex Killorn – Valtteri Filppula – Tyler Johnson

Nikita Kucherov – Valdislav Namestnikov – J.T. Brown

Brendan Morrow – Brian Boyle – Brett Connolly

Matt Carle – Anton Stralman

Andrej Sustr – Jason Garrison

Mark Barberio – Eric Brewer

Evgeni Nabokov