Oilers Gameday – @ Wild

The Oilers hit the road for a brief one game road trip tonight in Minnesota, as the Oilers and Wild will battle for the third and final time this season. This is the lone meeting between the sides in Minnesota, as the previous two took place at Rexall Place.

The Oilers will be without F Taylor Hall, F Anton Lander and D Nikita Nikitin tonight. D Jeff Petry will be a game-time decision, but likely will play, while F Nail Yakupov is out with a groin injury. The Wild will be without F’s Ryan Carter and Jason Zucker, along with D Jared Spurgeon.

Ben Scrivens starts for the Oilers, while Devan Dubnyk gets the nod for the Wild.

Last Games:

Edmonton: The Oilers last played on Saturday night when they hosted the Ducks at Rexall Place. Edmonton took a penalty just seconds into the game, and paid for it as Francois Beauchemin scored only 45 seconds into the tilt with a blast from the point. Following the five minute marker, however, Edmonton would settle into the game.

The Oilers pushed hard late in the first, and got rewarded with a goal just 28 seconds into the middle frame as Nail Yakupov found Teddy Purcell wide-open in front of the net. The Oilers pushed hard for the lead the rest of the period, but were shut-down by John Gibson.

The sides would trade chances in the third period, but both goalies were up to the task. The Ducks finally broke through at the 12:47 mark, as Ryan Getzlaf drove to the net and put a rebound past Scrivens to give Anaheim the lead. John Gibson would stop all eleven Oiler shots in the third to preserve the 2-1 win for his team.

Minnesota: The Wild hosted the Stars in a huge game on Sunday night. The Wild played a strong first period, firing eleven shots on the net, but Jhonas Enroth was up to the task, stopping everything.

Dallas would open the scoring with a Jason Spezza goal 14:33 into the middle frame, while Enroth would stop nine more Wild shots to give Dallas a huge 1-0 lead after two. The third period, however, was a total change of pace.

The Wild exploded, getting a franchise record six goals in the final twenty minutes. Zach Parise scored twice, while Mikko Koivu, Stephane Veilleux, Matt Dumba and Mikael Granlund all added markers. Spezza would add his second of the game in the final minutes, but it meant nothing as the Wild would win 6-2.

Last Meeting:

The Wild and Oilers met last Friday night in Edmonton in a game that was simply a snooze fest. The Wild would suffocate the Oiler attack from the opening minutes, while Edmonton looked simply tired and out-matched from the opening puck drop.

Justin Fontaine would tip-home a shot from Christian Folin 10:18 in, while Nino Niederreiter would put home a rebound five minutes later that basically ended the game fifteen minutes in.

Jordan Schroeder would score in the second period, while Fontaine would add his second of the night to seal the 4-0 Wild win. Devan Dubnyk would have to only stop 15 shots to get the shut-out.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers need to bring the intensity to this hockey game. They really dug in their heels against the Ducks on Saturday, and easily could have won that hockey game. If they dig in tonight and play their game, then they’ll have a chance to spoil Minnesota’s playoff push.

Minnesota: Capture Friday night in a bottle and unleash it again here. Seriously, do exactly what you did in Edmonton. The Wild totally out-matched Edmonton and made the Oilers look even worse than they are. Do that again tonight, and those two points will come easy.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: F Jordan Eberle was quiet against the Wild on Friday night, and just as quiet against the Ducks on Saturday. Edmonton needs Eberle clicking like he was the previous 15 games, not the last two. Can he rebound tonight against this Wild team? I’ll certainly be watching him, and I think he will respond.

Minnesota: Wild G Devan Dubnyk has flat out owned the Oilers this season. Dubnyk is the hottest goalie in the NHL right now, and has helped get the Wild back into a playoff spot. He is unbeaten against his former team, and has yet to allow more than two goals against them. Will he continue this dominance?

Quick Hits:

The Oilers lost their first two meetings against the Wild last year as well, but then beat them in the third meeting in a shoot-out. The Oilers will carry eight healthy defenders to Minnesota for this game. The Wild, who won on Sunday, have now won five of their last seven games. G Devan Dubnyk is 13-2-1 with a .936 GAA since joining the Wild.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Benoit Pouliot – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Teddy Purcell – Derek Roy – Matt Fraser

Ryan Hamilton – Matt Hendricks – Iiro Pakarinen

Luke Gazdic – Boyd Gordon – Rob Klinkhammer

Oscar Klefbom – Justin Schultz

Martin Marincin – Mark Fayne

Andrew Ference – Jeff Petry

Ben Scrivens

Minnesota Wild Lines:

Nino Niederreiter – Mikko Koivu – Jason Pominville

Zach Parise – Mikael Granlund – Justin Fontaine

Thomas Vanek – Charlie Coyle – Jordan Schroeder

Stephane Veilleux – Erik Haula – Kyle Brodziak

Ryan Suter – Jonas Brodin

Marco Scandella – Matt Dumba

Nate Prosser – Christian Folin

Devan Dubnyk