Oilers Gameday – Vs. Predators

The Oilers seven game home-stand rolls on tonight as they return to Western Conference action with a visit from the Nashville Predators, who will be Edmonton’s first opponent from the Central Division this season. Edmonton and Nashville haven’t met since last spring at Rexall Place, and both teams have undergone rather large changes since then, including a coaching change in Nashville, and new players going to Edmonton.

Nashville comes to town after losing their first game in regulation back on Saturday night, but still riding one of the best starts in franchise history. Edmonton, meanwhile, looks to keep up a winning streak that has seen them snag four in a row, all on home ice. Nashville enters tonight relatively healthy, while forward Luke Gazdic and goalie Viktor Fasth are now listed as day-to-day for Edmonton.

Ben Scrivens, who has been lights out the last week, will start for Edmonton, while star goalie Pekka Rinne likely gets the go for the Predators.

The Last Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers last took to the ice on Monday night in a battle with the Montreal Canadiens. Edmonton started off slowly, as Montreal got the first few shots and chances, but quickly found themselves back into things thanks to a few power-play chances. Edmonton closed the gap on the shot clock, and eventually scored the game’s first goal at the 19:41 mark, as Mark Arcobello found Benoit Pouliot on a two-on-one chance.

The second period saw Edmonton and Montreal once again trade shots and chances, and once again saw Edmonton find the back of the net. Benoit Pouliot slid a puck through the crease that found Nail Yakupov, who slammed home his second of the year at the 6:33 mark to give Edmonton the needed insurance that put the game basically out of reach for the Habs. Montreal battled back, but simply couldn’t get that one big chance.

The third period saw Edmonton go into defensive mode, with Boyd Gordon and Matt Hendricks leading the way blocking shots left and right. Ben Scrivens did his part by stopping twelve third period shots, and Taylor Hall scored his fifth of the year into an empty net to put things away. Ben Scrivens would stop 29 shots for his first shut-out of the year, a 3-0 victory for Edmonton, their fourth in a row.

Nashville: The Predators have been off since Saturday night, when they dipped into the Eastern Conference to battle the Pittsburgh Penguins at home. The Preds and Pens played a pretty even first period, splitting the shots and scoring chances relatively even, but Pittsburgh one upped the Preds, thanks to a Sidney Crosby goal at the 6:22 mark of the frame.

The second period was all Penguins, who fired twelve shots onto Rinne in the period. Rinne stood tall however, stopping all twelve shots that were attempted against him in the frame. Nashville only got four shots on net themselves in the period, and didn’t really test Marc-Andre Fleury.

The third period was when Pittsburgh started to really pull away, and it happened early and quickly. The Pens got an early power-play which they converted as Evgeni Malkin put home a Sidney Crosby pass thanks to a beautiful tip at the 2:03 mark. Just over three minutes later, at the 5:25 mark, Pascal Dupuis got in on the action with a power-play marker of his own. Fleury would stop all thirteen shots in the frame to put the game away, a 3-0 win for Pittsburgh.

The Last Meeting:

Edmonton and Nashville last met in March of last year at Rexall Place, in a game that was rather one-sided for the home side. Edmonton came out flying, applying all kinds of pressure on Nashville right from the get-go. Edmonton peppered Pekka Rinne with twelve first period shots, and got the game’s first goal compliments a Sam Gagner marker at the 19:25 mark.

The second period was more of the same, as Edmonton continued to apply pressure. The Oilers got a power-play which they converted on, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins buried a Jordan Eberle feed 8:18 in for an insurance marker. Taylor Hall followed suit with a goal of his own at the 14:48 mark to put Edmonton up 3-0, which basically put the contest away. Gabriel Bourque scored at 18:39 to make it 3-1, but it was simply too little too late.

Jordan Eberle added a pair of goals less than two minutes apart, one at 8:38 and the other at 10:01 of the frame, to put the game out of reach, while Viktor Fasth stopped all six Nashville shots to solidify the 5-1 win for Edmonton. The win gave the Oilers a sweep of the three game season series.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: Nashville might be known for it’s defense and goaltending, but for some reason Pekka Rinne has struggled against these Oilers over the years. Edmonton’s young core has found success here, and the key to tonight’s game is going to be simple because of that. For Edmonton, they need to get pucks on net against a goalie that might second guessing himself. If you do that, those two points will be there for you.

Nashville: Even after adding James Neal, scoring is still an issue in Nashville. For the Predators to have a chance tonight, they need to keep this thing from being a track meet. That means playing a sound defensive game, and keeping everything to the outside as best as they can shot wise. If Nashville can do that, then they will have a chance to snag this victory tonight.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oilers forward Jordan Eberle has been at the center of trade rumors these last few weeks, and has been under-performing by normal standards for Ebs. He looked good two games ago against Carolina, and has dominated this Nashville team over the course of his career. I say he steps up tonight, and adds another goal to his total against the team from Tennessee.

Nashville: The Predators have always had stars on the blue-line and in net, but never up front. That has changed, as Nashville acquired forward James Neal at the draft. Neal is a pure goal scorer, and has a terrific shot. Many don’t believe he will be the same away from Crosby, but this guy is good, and will be well worth watching tonight.

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

Brad Hunt – Justin Schultz

Andrew Ference – Jeff Petry

Martin Marincin – Mark Fayne

Ben Scrivens

Nashville Predators Lines:

Filip Forsberg – Mike Ribeiro – James Neal

Colin Wilson – Derek Roy – Craig Smith

Olli Jokinen – Calle Jarnkok – Matt Cullen

Eric Nystrom – Paul Gaustad – Taylor Beck

Roman Josi – Shea Weber

Anton Volchenkov – Seth Jones

Mattias Ekholm – Ryan Ellis

Pekka Rinne