Oilers Gameday - vs Tampa Bay

We’re still playing 1.000 hockey in 2016. Hopefully tonight against Steve Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning the Oilers can make it 3-0 this year.

Both teams have been off for a bunch of days (the Oil since Monday, and the Lightning since Tuesday), so hopefully we’ll see both teams playing hard right off the hop.

Last Games

Edmonton

On Monday night against Carolina, the Oilers came out flatter than the baldheaded prairie and almost lulled me to sleep a few times. However, some stellar goaltending by Cam Talbot led the Oilers to a 1-0 OT victory, with the game winning goal coming off the stick of Andrej Sekera. Despite the game being a bit boring, it wasn’t terrible, and that’s something to hold on to.

Tampa Bay

Honestly I have no idea. I’m going to assume they played at some point this week, and won.

*checks*

Nope. Looks like TB lost their last game (against the Flames) 3-1 on Tuesday night.

Keys to the Game

Edmonton

Capitalize on the days of rest. Get bodies in front of the net. Get the puck out of the defensive zone in a not-chaotic manner. Make a good first pass on the breakout. Try not to pass to the other team. Give the puck to Taylor Hall.

Tampa Bay

Don’t let Edmonton do those things. Also get bodies in front of the net and screen the goalie. And maybe make Justin Schultz have to keep the puck away from an opponent. He’s not great at that sometimes.

Players to Watch

Edmonton

I’ll just leave this here.

When Hall plays 80% of the season sked, he’s ppg player. If not for lockout/OLY/injuries last 3 years, probably heading to 4th straight ASG.

— Jack Michaels (@EdmontonJack) January 8, 2016

Tampa Bay

Is there anyone other Stamkos and Viktor Hedman even playing in Tampa Bay?

(Projected) Lineups

Edmonton

Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell

Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Matt Hendricks – Mark Letestu – Lauri Korpikoski

Rob Klinkhammer – Anton Lander – Iiro Pakarinen

Andrej Sekera – Brandon Davidson

Darnell Nurse – Justin Schultz

Brad Hunt – Eric Gryba

Cam Tal-Bot

Tampa Bay

Vladislav Namestnikov – Valtteri Filppula – Steven Stamkos

Ondrej Palat – Tyler Johnson – Nikita Kucherov

Alex Killorn – Cedric paquette – Ryan Callahan

JT Brown – Brian Boyle – Erik Condra

Victor Hedman – Anton Stralman

Nikita Nestorov – Braydon Coburn

Jason Garrison – Andrej Sustr

Ben Bishop

Final Thoughts

TAYLOR HALL IS AN ALL-STAR (because of course he is). He’s play at a point-per-game pace, and that includes that 7-game losing streak where he didn’t register on the scoresheet at all. As Hall goes, so does the team.

On a more serious note….

There was a story in the Edmonton Journal today about a kid who, at 16, is playing his first year of organized hockey. Alex Macfarlane’s family was never able to afford the fees and equipment costs, so last summer he got a job so that he could save up the money to pay his own way. Now that he’s playing hockey, he’s still got his job at McDonald’s so that he can save up to buy a ticket to the last game at Rexall.

You can read all about it here.

Earlier today someone reached out to Andrew Ference on Twitter to see if he might be able to help out. And of course, he’s going to do what he can.

Dude! Of course. Someone get me this kid’s number! Thanks for passing the story along @kadydh & @Jason_Adams_ATB https://t.co/MlwgDo3ceC

— Andrew Ference (@Ferknuckle) January 8, 2016