Oilers Gameday – Vs. Sharks

The Edmonton Oilers play their final home game before the Olympic break tonight as they host the San Jose Sharks. It’ll be the third meeting between the sides on the year, and the second played at Rexall Place. That Sharks have won both meetings this season.

The Oilers are riding a two game winning streak, thanks to wins over Nashville and Vancouver on Sunday and Monday. The team is looking for it’s second three-game streak of the season. Forward Ales Hemsky, still battling a foot injury, will miss the game, as will defender Andrew Ference, who is battling a head injury.

The Sharks are without rookie phenom Tomas Hertl, who will be out with his knee injury he suffered over a month ago. Outside of Hertl, the Sharks will be missing star Logan Couture and veteran Adam Burish. Forwards Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau both signed three-year extensions last week with the team.

After getting Monday night off, Ben Scrivens will get the start tonight for Edmonton, while Antti Niemi, undefeated in regulation against Edmonton, will start for the Sharks.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers completed a solid effort on Monday night in Vancouver against the rival Canucks, scoring their first win against the rivals. The Oilers got the better of the chances early, and got rewarded as David Perron scored his 20th of the season off a Sam Gagner feed 9:11 in.

The Canucks would tie it a little over three minutes later as Jordan Schroeder banked one off Corey Potter’s foot. Nail Yakupov would drive the net in the final minutes, and create a rebound which David Perron would bang home for a 2-1 Oilers lead.

In the second, Schroeder would score his second of the night, this on a long shot that went off Potter’s leg (I know, I know) at the 2:39 mark. Edmonton would get some good chances, but were unable to beat Roberto Luongo. The third period would see Edmonton control the first half, and get a lead as Ryan Smyth fed Jesse Joensuu in front of the net 2:20 in.

The Canucks would push, but couldn’t solve Ilya Bryzgalov, who made nine third period saves to preserve the win. David Perron would complete his second career hat-trick with an empty net goal, sealing Edmonton’s big 4-2 win.

San Jose: The Sharks last played on Monday night, as they hosted division rival Los Angeles at the SAP Center. The Kings came out firing, and out-played the Sharks in the first period, doubling up the shot-total with an 8-4 margin. Both goalies were solid, stopping everything thrown their way.

The second would be a rather dull period, seeing each time fire only five shots on net. Jon Quick would stop all five Shark shots thrown his way, while Alex Stalock would stop four. The Kings would finally break the ice 17:56 in as Anze Kopitar fired home a wrist shot off a Jeff Carter feed.

The Sharks would dominate the third, out-shooting the Kings 14-8, but couldn’t get the equalizer. Quick would stand tall and prove why he is an elite tender, and would seal the deal for LA, who would pick up a much needed 1-0 victory over their in-state rivals.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Sharks last met up in San Jose on January 2nd in a game that was simply ugly for the Oil. The Sharks absolutely dominated all 60 minutes. They out-shot the Oilers 17-7 in the first period, and got the first two goals as Patrick Marleau and Brent Burns scored 51 seconds apart late in the period.

The Sharks poured it on in the second period, as Bracken Kearns would score 7:18 in. Just over a minute later, the Sharks would make it a four goal game as Logan Couture would rip home a goal. Edmonton would get a Nail Yakupov goal at the 15:39 mark, but it would be nothing more than lipstick on the pig.

The Sharks would add goal number five just under six minutes into the third as Joe Pavelski would score his mandatory goal against the Oil. Antti Niemi would make 23 saves in one of his easiest wins of the year, as the Sharks would hang on 5-1.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oilers forward Nail Yakupov has had a very good recent stretch of games here. Yak has begun to focus a little more on the defensive side of his game, and has been playing with a noticeable edge in his game. Add to that the fact he’s got some chemistry going with David Perron, and it’s easy to see things starting to change for Yak. I suspect he keeps this stretch up.

San Jose: Sharks forward Joe Pavelski has owned the Oilers it seems like. He’s always found a way to get on the score-sheet when these teams play, and he seemingly always finds way to play an extremely effective game. I’ll be watching Pavelski closely because not only does he own the Oilers, but he has been playing well recently. Not a good mix for Edmonton.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

David Perron – Sam Gagner – Nail Yakupov

Matt Hendricks – Boyd Gordon – Ryan Jones

Luke Gazdic – Ryan Smyth – Jesse Joensuu

Martin Marincin – Jeff Petry

Nick Schultz – Justin Schultz

Anton Belov – Corey Potter

Ben Scrivens

San Jose Sharks Lines:

Joe Pavelski – Joe Thornton – Matt Nieto

Tommy Wingles – Patrick Marleau – Brent Burns

Bracken Kearns – Andrew Desjardins – Tyler Kennedy

Eriah Hayes – John McCarthy – Mike Brown

Dan Boyle – Matt Irwin

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Jason Demers

Brad Stuart – Justin Braun

Antti Niemi

EDIT: As a side note Dave is attending this game tonight with his wife, a diehard Sharks fan, and he told me he’s terrified tonight for a loss because his wife won’t let him live it down. But he said he’s almost more afraid for what might happen in the Oilers win as evidenced by this photo his wife sent me today.