Oilers Gameday – Vs. Penguins

The Oilers look to close out a three game homestand tonight as they host the Metropolitan division leading Pittsburgh Penguins in the second and final meeting between the sides on the season. A win tonight would mean two out of a possible three on this homestand, which would be successful.

The sides met back in October in Pittsburgh, and the team’s have gone totally different ways since then, with Pittsburgh dominating the east and Edmonton sinking to the bottom of the western conference.

The Pens have won 17 of their last 20 games, and started out their Western Canadian trip with a win in Vancouver the other night. It’ll be the first half of back-to-back games for the Pens, who will be in Calgary on Saturday night.

The Pens will be without forward Pascal Dupuis, who tore his ACL and will miss the rest of the season. Forward Beau Bennett is also on the IR, along with veteran defender Paul Martin.

The Oilers sent defender Brad Hunt back to OKC on Wednesday, and are expecting defender Corey Potter back soon. Potter practiced on Thursday and has missed time. Devan Dubnyk, who beat the Penguins the last time they were in Edmonton, is expected to get the start for the Oil.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers brought forth a good effort on Tuesday night, but were simply out-played and out-classed by a much better St. Louis Blues team. The Blues dominated the first period, and were rewarded with a Chris Stewart PP goal at the 12:46 mark.

In the second, the Oilers would show some life and even tie the game thanks to a beautiful wrist shot by Nail Yakupov, but moments later Ilya Bryzgalov would let a stinker in off a Max Lapierre wrap around attempt, giving the Blues the lead right back.

Mark Arcobello would tie things at two at the 5:10 mark, but the Blues would simply take command of the game from there. David Backes and Vlad Tarasenko would score in the period, while Patrik Berglund would add an empty netter to seal the 5-2 Blues victory.

Pittsburgh: The Pens kicked off a three game road trip on Tuesday night in Vancouver, in a game which turned out to be a wild one. The Pens were clearly the better team in the first, and were rewarded with a Brian Gibbons goal, while Fleury would stop eight shots.

In the second, Evgeni Malkin would extend the lead to two early into the frame, but Vancouver would get back into the battle. Ten minutes after Malkin’s goal, Jason Garrison would blast home a shot to make it a one goal game, which is where it would stand heading into the third.

In that final frame, Vancouver scored two quick goals to take a lead, with Chris Tanev opening the scoring just 7:39 in, and Chris Higgins taking the lead six minutes later. Zack Kassian would extend it to a two goal lead just seconds after Higgins’ goal, and Vancouver seemingly had things wrapped up.

That was until the final two minutes however. The Penguins would get a Kris Letang goal on a bomb with under two minutes to go, and would get a clutch Sidney Crosby goal with under a minute to play to tie the game. OT would solve nothing, and the sides would head to the shoot-out.

In the shoot-out, Sidney Crosby would score the lone goal, while Fleury would stop all three Canucks to seal the 5-4 comeback win for the Pens.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Penguins last met in Pittsburgh back on October 15th. Pascal Dupuis opened the scoring just minutes in with a stinker on Jason Labarbera, but outside of that Edmonton would seemingly get the better of the chances in the frame.

In the second, Edmonton tied things just over a minute in as Ales Hemsky would find the back of the net. At the 9:30 mark, Chris Kunitz would sneak a soft shot behind Labarbera to put the Pens back on top, but Jordan Eberle would fire home a shot late in the period to tie things at two, which is where they would stand after 40.

In the final frame, Edmonton had a few awesome chances, but were stoned by Fleury, who played an extremely good hockey game. The Pens, thanks to the great goaltending, were put in a good spot, which they wouldn’t waste. Evgeni Malkin would score a beautiful goal on the PP just about 7:30 into the third, which would stand as the game winner in the 3-2 game.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oilers forward Sam Gagner has been taken out of his natural center spot, and will be put on the wing tonight. His linemates? Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. With all the rumors out there, this reeks of a showcase for the young forward. Gagner is playing in a position to succeed tonight, and I’m willing to bet he has a solid outing on the wing.

Pittsburgh: Penguins goalie Jeff Zatkoff will get the start tonight. Why is this notable? Well Zatkoff has not lost since OCTOBER 25th, and is riding a seven game winning streak right now. He struggled by giving up ten goals in his first two starts, but has bounced back big time, giving up only 12 since then. He’s not a star, but he’ll be worth watching tonight. Can another backup shut down Edmonton?

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Sam Gagner

Nail Yakupov – Mark Arcobello – Jordan Eberle

David Perron – Boyd Gordon – Ales Hemsky

Luke Gazdic – Ryan Smyth – Ryan Jones

Andrew Ference – Justin Schultz

Nick Schultz – Anton Belov

Jeff Petry – Martin Marincin

Devan Dubnyk

Pittsburgh Penguins Lines:

Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – Brian Gibbons

Jussi Jokinen – Evgeni Malkin – James Neal

Tanner Glass – Brandon Sutter – Taylor Pyatt

Deryk Engelland – Joe Vitale – Craig Adams

Rob Scuderi – Kris Letang

Simon Despres – Brooks Orpik

Olli Maatta – Matt Niskanen

Jeff Zatkoff