Oilers Gameday – @ Wild

Tonight, the Oilers look to right the ship as they head to Minnesota to battle the Wild. This will be the first of three meetings between the teams this season. The Wild won the season series by a 2-1 count last year, while the road team was a perfect 3-0.

The Oilers are still without Jordan Eberle, but he’s inching closer to a return. Justin Schultz, who is sick, and Griffin Reinhart will miss tonight’s tilt as well for Edmonton. In response, the Oilers recalled D Darnell Nurse on Monday. Devan Dubnyk is battling a knee issue for the Wild, while F Tyler Graovac is on the IR.

Cam Talbot is expected to start for Edmonton, while Darcy Kuemper is likely to get the nod for the Wild.

Last Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers hosted the Los Angeles Kings in what was quite a controversial game on Sunday night. Benoit Pouliot and Jeff Carter traded first period goals in an even frame, and then the drama started. LA would dominate the middle frame and take a lead 13:36 in as Anze Kopitar blasted a shot past Cam Talbot.

Edmonton clawed back with a strong third period and tied the game compliments a Taylor Hall power-play goal, but things would turn south fast. A soft call against Lauri Korpikoski led to a Kings’ PP, where Tanner Pearson would score the eventual game winner.

Connor McDavid appeared to have scored with three seconds remaining, but the NHL’s video review system botched the call and the Kings won 3-2.

Minnesota: The Wild played an up and down game on Sunday in Winnipeg against the Jets. The Wild opened the scoring ten seconds in thanks to Jason Zucker, but the Jets would respond quickly with three goals, one a piece from Bryan Little, Andrew Ladd and Nikolaj Ehlers.

Drew Stafford would add a pair in the second to put the Jets up 5-1, all but ending the chances for a Minnesota victory. The Wild did make things interesting, however, as Mikko Koivu, Justin Fontaine and Zach Parise would score to set the score as a 5-4 final in favor of the Jets.

Last Meeting:

The Oilers and Wild last met in St. Paul back on February 24th. The Wild dominated the tilt, out-shooting Edmonton 34 to 19, but Ben Scrivens came to play, making 27 saves.

Benoit Pouliot opened the scoring at the 11:12 mark of the first, but things wouldn’t last long as Thomas Vanek scored just over four minutes later. Pouliot responded quickly for Edmonton, just 32 seconds later, to give the Oil a 2-1 lead that would go the distance thanks to Scrivens’ sensational effort.

Keys To The Game:

Edmonton: The Oilers have to break out of their own zone cleaner. The Oil have so much skill up front that they could wreck havoc on a Wild team that struggles against good offensive units. It starts on the back-end, and if Edmonton wants two points their defenders will need to move the puck out quicker.

Minnesota: The Wild dominated Edmonton last season with a high volume of shots and a lot of pressure. If Minnesota plays their puck pressure game tonight, they’ll find a way to beat the Oilers. Being tough on Edmonton’s forwards and exposing the holes is their key.

Players To Watch:

Edmonton: Darnell Nurse was recalled on Monday and is expected to play tonight. He fills a lot of holes in Edmonton, he’s a mobile, physical and sound defender. I’m very excited to see what another year of experience and some AHL seasoning has done for the blue-liner. He could really help this hockey club.

Minnesota: Zach Parise is one of my favorite players in the NHL. He’s a dynamic offensive presence and fires a ton of shots on net. He’s feasted on Edmonton over the years and I can’t really see tonight being much different. He’s fast and skilled, the Oilers don’t have an answer for that.

Quick Hits:

Connor McDavid leads the Oilers and is tied for points by a rookie with nine in nine games this season. McDavid also leads the team with five goals through his first nine tilts. The Wild are currently 5-2-1 and in a Wild Card position in the west with eleven points in the standings. Edmonton won the lone meeting between the teams in St. Paul a year ago.

The Lines:

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Benoit Pouliot – Connor McDavid – Nail Yakupov

Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Rob Klinkhammer

Lauri Korpikoski – Anton Lander – Teddy Purcell

Luke Gazdic – Mark Letestu – Iiro Pakarinen

Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne

Oscar Klefbom – Eric Gryba

Darnell Nurse – Andrew Ference

Cam Talbot

Minnesota Wild Lines:

Zach Parise – Mikael Granlund – Jason Pominville

Jason Zucker – Mikko Koivu – Nino Niederreiter

Thomas Vanek – Charlie Coyle – Justin Fontaine

Chris Porter – Erik Haula – Ryan Carter

Ryan Suter – Jared Spurgeon

Marco Scandella – Jonas Brodin

Christian Folin – Matt Dumba

Darcy Kuemper