Cam Talbot returns to Madison Square Garden tonight in his first appearance against his former team this season. Talbot will face off against his former mentor Henrik Lundqvist in what should be an epic goaltending duel. I expect both tenders to be highly motivated. Talbot currently leads all NHL goalies in wins with 7, and rolls into the big apple sporting a very respectable .932 save percentage and 2.14 Goals Against Average. He’s done everything that could be asked of him lately and then some, and has kept the Oilers in the game over there last 2 losses when they probably had no business being in them. Lundqvist is also playing well and has an identical GAA, and a .917 save percentage. He’ll be eager to show up his former apprentice, I’m sure.
Keys to the game:
Edmonton: Edmonton MUST find a way to get its power play going. Apparently Todd McLellan has opted for patience though, and so far there don’t seem to be any changes to the power play units. That could change during the game, but the Oilers coaching staff has shown a troubling stubbornness when it comes to the man advantage.
I’ve been saying for some time that I’d like to see Nurse get a chance on the point during the PP due to his skating and offensive instincts, and OilersNation.com writer Matt Henderson seems to agree. You can read his piece on the special teams struggle over here: http://oilersnation.com/2016/11/2/fix-that-power-play
The Oilers will likely need Talbot to stand on his head again for this one.
New York: The Rangers sit second in their division and sport the best goal differential in the NHL with +18. They’re scoring in bunches and getting offense out of all 4 lines and timely saves from Lundquist. NY is Riding a 2 game winning streak and a has only lost 1 game at home this season. All they need to do is play their game and contain McDavid and they should win this game in theory.
The two teams match up well as far as the win loss column goes, but the Oilers will have their hands full tonight.
Players to Watch:
Oilers: Cam Talbot is 1st on my list. He’s been playing extremely well as of late and I imagine he’ll be motivated to show up his old team. Other players to watch include THE ENTIRE D-CORE after they struggled mightily against the Leafs. I hope for (and expect) a better performance out of the Oilers blueliners, across the board. On offense, RNH has 4 points in his last 5 games but still hasn’t tallied a goal. Draisaitl also seems to be struggling offensively, so I’ll be watching to see if they can change their fortunes this evening.
Rangers: Jimmy Vesey. I was so tired of hearing this kid’s name over the summer, and I thought he was being overhyped. Boy was I wrong. Vesey actually leads the Rangers in goals (with 6) and is tied for 2nd place in overall scoring. He’s been very, very good. You can add the entire forward group really, as NY is getting goals out of all 4 lines. Lundquist will be interesting to watch after posting a shutout against the Blues in his last game.
The Lines:
No changes on the injury front. It sounds like Benning will sit this one out after making his NHL debut against the Leafs, and Gryba will draw back in on the 3rd pairing for the Oilers.
*Edit: It would seem Benning will play again:
No changes to #Oilers lineup from Tuesday. @mbennzzzz to play 2nd @NHL game. Slepyshev & @grybes02 scratched. #EDMvsNYR
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 3, 2016
(Lines courtesy of http://www.dailyfaceoff.com)
Game Notes:
Despite being one of the better goalies in the league, Lundquist has a 3-2-2 record against the Oilers, so this could be an interesting game. Most people have probably written the Oilers off for this one, but I think they’ll be competitive. They need to find a way to get their power play going and will have the opportunity to do so tonight against the Rangers who have a somewhat pedestrian Penalty Kill which ranks 16th in the NHL.
Prediction:
Everytime I predict the Oilers to win, they lose, and vice versa. So I’m going to say they lose on an empty net goal in a fairly wide open game with a final score of 6-4 for the Rangers. Oilers goal scorers are Puljujarvi, Draisaitl, McDavid, and Eberle. Zuccarello, Vesey, Hayes, Nash, and Kreider tally for the Rangers. Ryan McDonagh doesn’t have a goal yet for New York (despite having 9 points in 10 games), so naturally he’ll tally one tonight as well.
Hopefully my game day prediction streak continues, and I’m wrong yet again (I don’t think I’ve predicted the winning team once this season).
Enjoy the game, folks. You can catch the action at 5pm MT on Sportsnet 360.
PS: Congrats, cubs fans 🙂
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
