It’s parade day in Boston today, and no, I still have not stopped smiling. That said, there is still hockey to played, and tonight the Oilers and Penguins will meet up in the first of two meetings between the sides this year. The Penguins are one of only two teams that the Oil have yet to play this year.
Oilers F Taylor Hall is questionable tonight, while D Nikita Nikitin will be out of the lineup for a minimum of four weeks. The Penguins, meanwhile, will be without F’s Pascal Dupuis and Blake Comeau, as well D Olli Maata.
Viktor Fasth gets the start for Edmonton tonight, while Marc-Andre Fleury gets the nod for the Penguins.
Last Games:
Edmonton: The Oilers were in San Jose on Monday, playing a pretty complete game against an elite team in the Sharks. The first period was mainly Edmonton’s, but the Sharks struck first on the power-play with a Joe Pavelski goal 11:50 in, but Edmonton would respond with a Jordan Eberle beauty late in the frame.
Eberle would give Edmonton a lead just 22 seconds into the second period with a twisted wrist shot, while Derek Roy would make it 3-1 off of an unreal Nail Yakupov feed at the 9:39 mark, sending Edmonton to the third up 3-1.
The third period was not kind to Edmonton, as the Sharks came out flying, scoring three goals in very quick succession. Scott Hannan, Matt Tennyson and Joe Pavelski all scored to put the Sharks ahead, but Justin Schultz would send us to OT with a late goal.
OT solved nothing, and the sides headed to a shoot-out that went 13 rounds. Rob Klinkhammer scored the winner, while Viktor Fasth stopped 12 of 13 shots to give Edmonton a gutsy 5-4 victory in San Jose.
Pittsburgh: The Penguins last played at home on Sunday, hosting the Nashville Predators in a Super Sunday matinee tilt. The Predators came out flying from the start, dominating the Pens in the first twenty minutes. The Preds got rewarded, as both Roman Josi and Gabriel Bourque scored.
Eric Nystrom would add some insurance in the middle frame, while Mike Fisher put the exclamation point on this game with a power-play goal in the third period. Carter Hutton stopped all 21 shots thrown his way, shutting out the Penguins and giving Nashville a big 4-0 victory on the road.
Last Meeting:
The Oilers and Penguins last met in January of 2014, over one year ago, at Rexall Place in Edmonton. The first period went by scoreless, but the high flying Pens would get going in the second period. Both James Neal and Sidney Crosby would score, sending us to the third with a 2-0 spread.
Edmonton came alive late, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall each scored to tie the game up a two. Kris Letang would fire home a shot on the power-play 12:16 into the frame, but Anton Belov would score his first NHL goal to send us to OT.
In OT, Edmonton dominated and got rewarded with a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins goal that gave the Oilers a thrilling 4-3 victory in extra time.
Keys To The Game:
Edmonton: Play to the system tonight. The Penguins are one of the few teams that came match Edmonton skill wise in a pond hockey game, and can actually blow Edmonton out in that style of game. The Oilers will need to play with structure tonight, and pick their spots. If they play Todd Nelson’s system, they can snag this win tonight.
Pittsburgh: Feed the slot is Pittsburgh’s biggest key tonight. The Oilers defense is rather weak, and the goaltending is suspect, while the Penguins posses tons of skill and snipers. If the Pens ramp things up and attack the slot to create chances tonight, they’ll run Edmonton out of their own building.
Players To Watch:
Edmonton: Oilers F Iiro Pakarinen returns to the NHL tonight and will likely be in the line-up. He looked really good in his first recall earlier this season, and has been great in the AHL. He’s a guy that plays physical and has a little scoring touch to his game. He’ll be looking to make an impact tonight, no doubt in my mind.
Pittsburgh: Penguins F Sidney Crosby is the best player in the world, hands down, no doubt. Crosby’s offensive skills are out of this world, and he is aware enough to be a very good defensive player. Crosby can do it all, and can take over a game. We don’t get to see him a lot, so enjoy watching him tonight.
Quick Hits:
The Oilers will hit the road after this game, heading out east to battle Toronto, New Jersey and the New York Islanders. The Penguins are opening a western road trip tonight that will take them through Western Canada. Penguins F Evgeni Malkin is currently on IR, but could be activated and play tonight. Pens F Sidney Crosby has only one goal against Edmonton in his career, while Oilers D Justin Schultz has ten points in his last 20 games.
The Lines:
Edmonton Oilers Lines:
Iiro Pakarinen – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle
Teddy Purcell – Derek Roy – Nail Yakupov
Matt Fraser – Anton Lander – Luke Gazdic
Matt Hendricks – Boyd Gordon – Rob Klinkhammer
Andrew Ference – Jeff Petry
Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz
Keith Aulie – Mark Fayne
Viktor Fasth
Pittsburgh Penguins Lines:
Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – David Perron
Nick Spaling – Brandon Sutter – Patric Hornqvist
Beau Bennett – Max Lapierre – Steve Downie
Zach Sill – Mark Arcobello – Craig Adams
Simon Despres – Kris Letang
Rob Scuderi – Paul Martin
Robert Bortuzzo – Derrick Poliout
Marc-Andre Fleury
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