Oilers Gameday – Vs. Winnipeg

The Oilers conclude a set of back-to-back games tonight and play their second contest in less than a week against the Winnipeg Jets, returning home to Rexall for their second pre-season tilt in the old barn. Edmonton is in the middle of a stretch that will see them play four games in a span of five nights, their busiest stretch of the pre-season.

The Last Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers got smacked around pretty good on Sunday by the Chicago Blackhawks. Edmonton only managed 22 shots on net all game, and looked much slower than Chicago’s B team. The Hawks got the lone goal of the first period on a Bryan Bickell shot, while hot shot prospect Teuvo Teravainen got on the board in the second period.

Garret Ross added a marker 54 seconds after Teravainen, while Andrew Shaw and Kris Versteeg scored in the third period to put the Hawks up by five. Scott Darling stopped 22 shots for a shut-out, while Richard Bachman gave up all five goals for the Oilers. Bachman played all 60 minutes for the team in this game, while Laurent Brossoit backed up.

Winnipeg: The Jets took on the Wild in Minnesota back on Saturday night and entered what would end up being a shoot-out of a game. Nic Petan would snap home a goal to open the scoring at 4:39 of the opening frame, but the Wild would answer back just under ten minutes later with a Mikael Granlund goal. Erik Haula would get penalty shot opportunity just thirty seconds later, and would sink it to put the Wild up 2-1.

In the second, Matt Halischuk continued on with his solid pre-season by snapping home a goal 1:25 into the frame to tie things up. As they did all night however, the Wild had an answer, and this time that answer was named Nino Niederreiter, who put the Wild up 3-2.

Grant Clitsome would tie things up only 40 seconds into the final frame with a quick snap shot, but the Wild power-play unit would determine this game as Jared Spurgeon would blast home the winner at the 15 minute mark. The Wild’s 4-3 win was back-stopped by Niklas Backstrom.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: Edmonton needs to show more urgency and fight in this game. Yesterday against the Hawks, Edmonton was outworked and looked like the less interested team for about 55 minutes. On top of that, after giving up the first goal, Edmonton folded like a cheap suit. It’s only pre-season, but I’m looking for a little more fight out of this unit tonight. Something tells me we will see it with a better lineup out there.

Winnipeg: The Jets defensively have struggled this pre-season, so they need to focus in on that aspect of the game tonight. Edmonton’s offense has been shutout twice in four pre-season games already, so this will be a good test for the Jets. The Oilers likely are also to have more of their weapons in the lineup tonight than they did last week, so that will help in the measuring stick department for the Jets.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: It’s Tyler Pitlick’s turn in the battle for the fourth line right wing spot. Jesse Joensuu impressed on Sunday, and Pitlick will need to counter with an engaged effort tonight. Tyler looked good last week against the Jets, and must back that up with another solid performance here. He isn’t being asked to put up points, but rather needs to play smart hockey and move the puck in the right direction. This should be a good test, especially playing with Hall and RNH.

Winnipeg: Jets forward Mathieu Perreault was signed this summer to replace Ollie Jokinen on the center depth-chart, and is expected to give Winnipeg some scoring help and depth down the middle. He’ll pivot the top line tonight, and will get a look with Michael Frolik. Perreault has some real offensive ability and can provide secondary scoring to an offensive unit that badly needs it. He’ll get a chance to showcase his skills against a solid Oiler lineup.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lineup:

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Tyler Pitlick

Vlad Tkachev – Bogdan Yakimov – Kevin Westgarth

Benoit Pouliot – Will Acton – Andrew Miller

Mitch Moroz – Travis Ewanyk – Steve Pinizzotto

Nikita Nikitin – Mark Fayne

Darnell Nurse – Brad Hunt

Keith Aulie – David Musil

Viktor Fasth

Winnipeg Jets Lineup:

Adam Lowry – Mathieu Perreault – Michael Frolik

Eric Tangradi – Nic Petan – Nikolaj Ehlers

Matt Halischuk – Patrice Cormier – Anthony Peluso

Carl Klingberg – John Albert – J.C. Lipon

Mark Stuart – Jacob Trouba

Adam Pardy – Keaton Ellerby

Josh Morrissey – Grant Clitsome

Micheal Hutchinson

Danny Taylor