The Oilers are back in action tonight, at home against the Winnipeg Jets. It’s Connor McDavid’s first game against the Jets, and if history is any indication, he should score approximately a million points. It’s a good match-up for the Hockey Night in Canada late game, too, given that it’s the league’s biggest talent on the league’s biggest broadcast stage. (Too bad Sportsnet panels are so terrible.)
Last Games
Edmonton
After a really shaky start on Thursday night, the Oilers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 in what can only really be classified as a good old fashioned beat down. The McDavid-Pouliot-Eberle line was on fire, combining for (I think) 13 points, but beyond those three (and another stellar showing from Cam Talbot), the rest of the team was only slightly barely above terrible. Looking at the twitter machine, though, I saw that most people were able to overlook the performance of the team because MCDAVID IS EVERYTHING WE HOPED FOR AND MORE. (We still need another scoring line though, so let’s not put all our eggs in one basket just yet.)
Winnipeg
The Jets lost 6-2 at home against Boston on Thursday, which means that while McDavid was putting up points like they were going out of style, the Jets were struggling hard. *shrugs* At least Jets fans can comfort themselves with the knowledge that Travis Hamonic will be coming their way this summer, right? (Just kidding, that’s probably not going to happen either.)
Keys to the Game
Edmonton
Get the puck to Connor, apparently. He makes magic happen on a level I can’t really comprehend. I’d say more, but I don’t really have any words.
Also, the Oilers need to find away around the Jets’ size, because the Oilers are teeny-tiny in comparison.
Winnipeg
Remember to pay attention to guys other than Connor. (Seriously, find some video of Thursday’s game and watch the Leafs leave Eberle alone more than once.)
Intimidate the Oilers, and set the tone early with big physical play.
Players to Watch
Edmonton
One day, I’m going to tell you to watch Taylor Hall because he’s going to have a big game, and I’m going to be right. He hasn’t been bad lately, but he’s been snakebit and the longer that goes on, the worse it’s going to get. So tonight look for the king of my heart to pot 2 goals and 2 assists. (Plus, he scores almost 2ppg against the Jets, so that’s something.)
Watch Connor. He’s stupid good.
Winnipeg
Watch Jacob Trouba because it might be the last time he’s in Edmonton in a Jets jersey.
Dustin Byfuglien is always a delight to watch. I’d LOVE to have him on my team (but not for what it’d probably cost).
Projected Lineups
Edmonton
Benoit Pouliot – Connor McDavid – Jordan Eberle
Taylor Hall – Mark Letestu – Zack Kassian
Iiro Pakarinen – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell
Nail Yakupov – Matt Hendricks – Lauri Korpikoski
Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne
Darnell Nurse – Justin Schultz
Brandon Davidson – Eric Gryba
Laurent Brossoit
Winnipeg
Nikolaj Ehlers – Bryan Little – Blake Wheeler
Mathieu Perrault – Mark Scheifele – Drew Stafford
Andrew Ladd – Adam Lowry – Joel Armia
Alex Burmistrov – Andrew Copp – Chris Thorburn
Tobias Enstrom – Dustin Byfuglien
Mark Stuart – Jacob Trouba
Ben Chiarot – Tyler Myers
Ondrej Pavelec
Final Thoughts
This morning, I was lying in bed scrolling through my twitter feed, and I noticed that 11 hours before game time, people were already complaining about what they thought was going to go wrong in tonight’s game. I won’t call anyone out, but it basically amounted to “my favourite player is getting a raw deal” and “oh my god we should trade ___________”.
I get it, we’re frustrated with the team but I think this is a good opportunity to remind everyone that last season, the Oilers won 24 games. Total. So far this year, they’ve won 22 and unless something catastrophic happens to a bunch of guys *knocks wood*, they’re going to win more than 24 games this season. McDavid isn’t the solution to all the woes of the team (he can’t play defence or goal), but a ton of offence should be able to compensate for some of the weaknesses on the back end. It won’t be enough for the playoffs, but it should (hopefully) quiet down the malcontents, at least a little bit.
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