Oilers Gameday – Vs. Rangers

The Oilers close out a six game homestand tonight with their final game against an eastern conference team this season. The New York Rangers make a rare visit to Rexall Place, their first since 2011, for the second and final meeting between the sides on the year. The Oilers knocked off New York 2-1 at the Garden in early February.

The Oilers will look to build off the momentum gained from a 4-3 OT win over the Ducks on Friday night, and look to finish their homestand at .500 with a 3-3 record. The Oilers lost forward Ryan Jones for the season with a torn PCL on Friday, while Nail Yakupov is still out with his ankle injury. Viktor Fasth is back skating, but will not dress tonight. Tyler Pitlick, who was banged up on Friday, will play for the Oilers, who will dress seven defenders. Phil Larsen is expected to re-join the lineup.

The Rangers roll into Edmonton battling for playoff position. New York currently is slated to battle the Flyers in round one of the eastern conference playoffs, but are still in a position where they could fall and meet the Penguins, or jump up and snag home-ice for the first round. Since the sides last met, the Rangers added star forward Marty St. Louis at the deadline, along with defender Raphael Diaz.

Ben Scrivens, who stopped 48 shots on Friday, starts for Edmonton, while rookie Cam Talbot gets the go for the Rangers.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: For Edmonton, they need to have a sense of urgency from the opening puck drop. The Oilers match-up quite well against eastern conference teams, and played the Rangers quite well last time around. If Edmonton can match the Rangers in terms of urgency tonight, there is a strong chance the Oilers play the spoiler role and snag two points in this one.

New York: For the Rangers, bodies in front of the net is their key to the game tonight. New York has some pure skill guys in Marty St. Louis, Brad Richards and Rick Nash, but also have big boys like Brian Boyle and Benoit Pouliot who can wreck havoc in front. The Oilers struggle covering the front of the net, and bodies in that area could result in the net being filled up tonight.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oilers forward Taylor Hall didn’t get a goal Friday, but had one of his most engaged games of the season against the Ducks. Physically, Hall was battling all night long and had a few nice chances to find the back of the net. Hall has had some success against eastern teams, and I suspect it continues with a goal tonight against the Rangers.

New York: Rangers forward Rick Nash is a big, skilled forward that has owned the Oilers for most of his career. Those types of players always have success against Edmonton, and while the Oilers did a good job on Perry and Getzlaf on Friday, stopping Nash will be a different story. I suspect he gets involved with a goal tonight.

Gameday Prediction:

The Oilers won on Friday, but were thoroughly dominated by the Ducks. Ben Scrivens can’t be expected to stop 48 shots again tonight, and the Rangers are a desperate hockey club in need of these two points. Games against teams like Edmonton are must wins for New York right now. They’ll get their points too, thanks to a 4-2 victory.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Anton Lander – Sam Gagner – David Perron

Tyler Pitlick – Boyd Gordon – Matt Hendricks

Luke Gazdic – Ryan Smyth – Phil Larsen

Andrew Ference – Jeff Petry

Martin Marincin – Anton Belov

Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz

Ben Scrivens

New York Rangers Lines:

Rick Nash – Derek Stepan – Daniel Carcillo

Carl Haglin – Brad Richards – Marty St. Louis

Mats Zuccarello – Derick Brassard – Benoit Pouliot

Brian Boyle – Dominic Moore – Derek Dorsett

Ryan McDonagh – Dan Girardi

Anton Stralman – Marc Staal

Raphael Diaz – Kevin Klein

Cam Talbot