Oilers Gameday – Vs. Wild

After nearly three weeks off, the Edmonton Oilers finally return to the ice tonight to battle the Minnesota Wild at Rexall Place. It will kick off a three game homestand for the Oilers, and will be the second out of three meetings between the former division rivals on the season.

The Oilers have yet to make any deals in what many expect will be a post-Olympic frenzy, and return a roster that went 5-1-1 in their final seven games before the Olympic break. The Oilers have made a few lineup changes, including the move of Ales Hemsky to the second line and Nick Schultz to the top-pairing with Justin Schultz. The team is also currently healthy outside of depth defender Philip Larsen, who is battling an illness.

The Wild come to Edmonton with a few injuries. Star forward Mikko Koivu missed the Olympic games, while goalie Josh Harding has seen his MS unfortunately flare up on him again. Defender Marco Scandella, according to Michael Russo, will miss the game tonight. The Wild acquired minor league forward Brad Winchester, a former Oiler, yesterday, but are not expected to use him.

Ben Scrivens, who was tremendous before the break, will start for Edmonton, while the Wild are expected to send veteran Niklas Backstrom out.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers last took the ice 20 days ago, as they went running with the Devils in New Jersey. New Jersey opened the scoring 11:01 in as the Oilers suffered from a bad defensive breakdown. Bryce Salvador found a wide open Andrei Loktionov in front, giving no chance to Bryzgalov. Edmonton responded 29 seconds later as Nail Yakupov found Taylor Hall, who beat Corey Schneider.

The sides played a scoreless second period that saw the Devils get the better of the chances, but also saw Ilya Bryzgalov stop ten New Jersey shots. Edmonton rebounded with a nice third, but simply could not solve Schneider. The sides would head to OT, awarding each team with a well earned point.

Just 2:34 into the extra frame, Jon Merrill rifled home his first NHL goal with a rocket from the point that gave the Devils a huge 2-1 OT victory.

Minnesota: The Wild last played on Thursday, February 6th, exactly three weeks ago in a home match-up with the Nashville Predators. The Wild opened the scoring just 4:05 in as Jonas Brodin fired a shot past Carter Hutton. The Preds, thanks to a Craig Smith goal, would respond just over a minute later.

The Wild would regain the lead at the 13:27 mark as Zach Parise would wrist one home on the power-play after a nice feed from Dany Heatley, giving Minnesota a 2-1 advantage after the opening twenty minutes of hockey.

In the second, Smith would tie things up with his second of the game and 18th of the season, as he tipped in Victor Bartley’s shot attempt. The sides would play a third period dominated by the Wild, but Hutton would make 15 saves to force things to the extra frame.

In OT, the Wild kept on pushing and finally got rewarded on their third shot of the extra frame. Nino Niederreiter took a Kyle Brodziak feed and snapped home the game winner at the 2:16 mark, lifting the Wild to a 3-2 win over the Predators.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Wild met on January 16th in Minnesota in what was a very one-sided affair. Jason Pominville opened the scoring 10:36 into the opening frame as he back-handed one past Scrivens. The Oilers would tie things up 2:36 into the second as Jordan Eberle floated one past Kuemper, but it would be as close as Edmonton came.

The Wild would regain the lead at 16:45 as Nate Prosser fired home his first of the season on a break-down, while Justin Fontaine would add the insurance with three seconds to play in the second.

Jason Zucker’s marker just eight seconds into the third basically ended things. Edmonton would show life after the goal, but already down by three it simply was too little too late. Kuemper would remain perfect in the third period, and help back-stop a dominating 4-1 victory for the Wild.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Oilers forward Ales Hemsky is no doubt on the trade block and is a player that will likely bring the biggest return this deadline to Edmonton. He had a strong Olympic tournament for the Czech Republic, and was playing good hockey leading into the break. Hemsky was lifted to the second line for tonight, and I expect he has a good showcase game for the Oilers.

Minnesota: Wild forward Zach Parise has been up and down all season. He scored only one goal in the Olympics, and was seen as a major disappointment for Team USA. Parise has had good numbers against the Oilers throughout his career, and will be counted on as the Wild have some key injuries up front right now. I suspect he finds the net tonight against a weak Oilers team.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Nail Yakupov

Ales Hemsky – Sam Gagner – Jordan Eberle

Matt Hendricks – Boyd Gordon – David Perron

Luke Gazdic – Ryan Smyth – Ryan Jones

Nick Schultz – Justin Schultz

Martin Marincin – Jeff Petry

Andrew Ference – Anton Belov

Ben Scrivens

Minnesota Wild Lines:

Zach Parise – Mikael Grandlund – Jason Pominville

Dany Heatley – Charlie Coyle – Justin Fontaine

Matt Cooke – Kyle Brodziak – Nino Niederreiter

Stephane Veilleux – Erik Haula – Torrey Mitchell

Ryan Suter – Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin – Nate Prosser

Clayton Stoner – Keith Ballard

Niklas Backstrom