Oilers Gameday – @ Winnipeg

The Oilers returned to the ice on Sunday night in a split-squad against the Calgary Flames. Tonight, the Oilers return for pre-season game three against the Winnipeg Jets, the first of two meetings between the sides during the pre-season. Edmonton made 18 cuts on Tuesday afternoon, sending some players to juniors and some players to the AHL.

The Jets opened their pre-season back on Monday night, and will be playing game two tonight. They have yet to make any big cuts to this point in training camp.

The Last Game:

Winnipeg: The Jets opened their pre-season slate on Monday when they hosted Minnesota. The Jets played numerous veteran players and their starting goalie, while the Wild used a number of their normal veterans and two NHL goalies in Ilya Bryzgalov and Nik Backstrom. The sides played a scoreless first, but Winnipeg got the games first goal with a power-play marker compliments Dustin Byfuglien.

The sides traded goals in the third, as Bryan Little snagged one for Winnipeg and Tyler Graovac scored for the Wild. Winnipeg would hold on for the 2-1 win to open the pre-season.

Edmonton: Edmonton played a pair of games against the Flames on Sunday night, splitting the games one a piece. The Oilers lost 1-0 in Calgary as TJ Brodie scored the lone goal on a power-play in the second period. Viktor Fasth stopped 19 of 20 shots in 40 minutes of work for Edmonton, but it was not enough.

Up north, Edmonton snagged a 3-1 victory thanks to a quick striking offense. Marco Roy scored less than a minute in, while Justin Schultz and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also chipped in on the night. Ben Scrivens stopped 14 of 15 shots, while Richard Bachman made seven saves in a perfect relief appearance. Calgary got a goal from Curtis Glencross in the first, but that was it.

Keys To The Game:

Winnipeg: This is a little different in the pre-season, because it isn’t really about the wins. For the Jets, tonight’s key is more focused on development. The Jets need to see what they have in their young players, especially 2014 first round pick Nikolaj Ehlers and 2013 second rounder Nic Petan. Getting these guys in prime spots tonight will be their key to seeing what they really have in two big time prospects.

Edmonton: The Oilers will be giving a number of prospects ice time tonight, and will need to put them is positions to succeed. Edmonton must give the Draisaitl and Yakimov lines good spots and favorable match-ups. Both of these lines have a number of NHL prospects that the team needs to develop and observe, and putting those guys in key roles will be huge. Getting Jordan Eberle caught up will be a key tonight too.

Players To Watch:

Winnipeg: This is really interesting because the Jets have a number of big time prospects. The brightest of these is Nikolaj Ehlers, who the Jets selected in the first round this past June. Winnipeg is looking like a team set up for a long winter, and putting Ehlers in the line-up to develop along side guys like Mark Scheifele and Jacob Trouba could be a good idea. He’ll get a good chance to prove himself tonight.

Edmonton: Forward Vlad Tkachev has emerged in a big way in this year’s camp. An invite to rookie camp who got a second invite to main camp, Tkachev has shown a good combination of skill and determination. Edmonton’s prospect ranks lack skill, so seeing Tkachev produce is a good sign. He’s yet to get an entry-level deal, but he’s got a spot in the top-six tonight and a great chance to win a deal with the club.

The Lines:

Winnipeg Jets Lines:

Evander Kane – Mark Scheifele – Blake Wheeler

TJ Galiardi – Adam Lowry – Matt Halischuk

Nikolaj Ehlers – Nic Petan – Scott Kosmachuk

Eric Tangradi – Patrice Cormier – Anthony Peluso

Josh Morrissey – Jacob Trouba

Adam Pardy – Grant Clitsome

Julian Melchiori – Will O’Neil

Michael Hutchinson

Danny Taylor

Edmonton Oilers Lines:

Nail Yakupov – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle

Benoit Pouliot – Leon Draisaitl – Vlad Tkachev

Curtis Hamilton – Bogdan Yakimov – Andrew Miller

Kale Kessy – Travis Ewanyk – Tyler Pitlick

Martin Marincin – Darnell Nurse

Martin Gernat – Oscar Klefbom

Keith Aulie – Justin Schultz

Laurent Brossoit (Will play two periods)

Ty Rimmer