{"id":1245117,"date":"2021-11-27T18:34:08","date_gmt":"2021-11-27T22:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/?p=1245117"},"modified":"2021-11-27T18:34:08","modified_gmt":"2021-11-27T22:34:08","slug":"oilers-gameday-november-27th-at-vegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportsdaily.com\/news\/oilers-gameday-november-27th-at-vegas\/","title":{"rendered":"Oilers Gameday: November 27th at Vegas \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
Welcome back Oil Country, as it\u2019s been 3 days since the Oilers defeated the Coyotes. The team continues its trip through the Southwest sitting at 14-5-0 on the season, but just 6-4-0 in their last 10.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Of course, that\u2019s not without reason as the Oilers find themselves without starting goalie Mike Smith and all 3 regulars on left defence. Tonight they take on a Knights team that is missing some key players of their own. Both squads appear to be weathering their storms reasonably well and are still within striking distance of living up to the expectations most had for them leading into the season.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Oilers beat Vegas in this building 5-3 on October 22nd, and will no doubt be looking for a similar outcome tonight. The Knights have really turned their season around since then, despite losing Karlsson and Patrick to injuries, as well as Tuch and Krebs in the Eichel trade.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Tippett has been coy about not announcing the starter before he has to, and admitted that with so much in flux that every line or combination can be changed. It\u2019s expected we\u2019ll se Koskinen and Lehner in goal for their teams tonight.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n KEYS TO THE GAME<\/b><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Edmonton<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Vegas<\/b>:<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n EXPECTED LINEUPS<\/b><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Edmonton<\/b>: Coach Tippett might be shuffling the deck early and often.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Draisaitl \u2014 McDavid \u2014 Kassian<\/span><\/p>\n Hyman \u2014 Nugent-Hopkins \u2014 Yamamoto<\/span><\/p>\n Foegele \u2014 McLeod \u2014 Puljujarvi<\/span><\/p>\n Benson \u2014 Sceviour \u2014 Turris<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Russell \u2014 Barrie<\/span><\/p>\n Broberg \u2014 Ceci<\/span><\/p>\n Lagesson \u2014 Bouchard<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Koskinen<\/span><\/p>\n Skinner<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Vegas<\/b>: Eichel, Karlsson, Patrick, and Martinez are on IR while Amadio is in COVID protocol.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Pacioretty \u2014 Stephenson \u2014 Stone<\/span><\/p>\n Marchessault \u2014 Roy \u2014 Smith<\/span><\/p>\n Carrier \u2014 Brooks \u2014 Dadanov<\/span><\/p>\n Janmark \u2014 Howden \u2014 Kolesar<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Hague \u2014 Pietrangelo<\/span><\/p>\n McNabb \u2014 Theodore<\/span><\/p>\n Hutton \u2014 Whitecloud<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Lehner<\/span><\/p>\n Brossoit<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n PLAYERS TO WATCH<\/b><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Edmonton<\/b>: Tippett pointed out that he liked how <\/span>McLeod<\/b> played with <\/span>Puljujarvi<\/b> in their short stint so far. McLeod has been doing well as the 3rd centre, especially defensively. Meanwhile, Puljujarvi might benefit from being more of a primary playmaker on a line, and some production out of this unit would be fantastic, if only for the short term. Reuniting McDavid and Draisaitl will ensure at least one line has something going, and with <\/span>Hyman-RNH-Yamamoto<\/b> reunited we should see a big win if the 3rd line gets going as well.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The <\/span>Russell-Barrie<\/b> pair is really a testament to the Oilers depth, or at least GM Holland\u2019s strategy of filling those spots with experience. Both are reliable in their own ways and at least bring different skill sets to the table. The talk of the town is about <\/span>Broberg<\/b> right now, logging huge minutes with Ceci and looking effective in multiple areas of the game. <\/span>Bouchard<\/b> isn\u2019t leading the charge like I guessed, but that\u2019s quite alright. He\u2019s shown a lot of skill and poise already this season and we know he will be a big part of this team headed forward.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n With Mike Smith still a ways away from a return, there\u2019s a lot of time to evaluate Skinner. At the very least he\u2019s proven that there\u2019s no need to push Koskinen past a certain usage rate. It\u2019s been nice to see Tippett trust him with some big games, but he hasn\u2019t passed Mikko on the depth chart yet.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Vegas<\/b>: Until Eichel returns from injury it\u2019s a bit of the same old song and dance from the Golden Knights (it\u2019s been a good one) with <\/span>Chandler Stephenson<\/b> centring the 1st line and leading the team with 19 points in 20 games, even without Stone or Pacioretty on his wings for most of that time. <\/span>Roy and Brooks<\/b> are not Karlsson and Eichel, but both have strong wingers to lean on as well, where <\/span>Dadanov<\/b> has been fitting in nicely. The trend not entirely absent from the 4th line either, as <\/span>Janmark and Kolesar<\/b> could easily fit onto a 3rd line.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The defence is much closer to full health, and is a very strong unit, stacking up against some of the best across the league. Yes, we know about stars like Pietrangelo and Theodore, but both <\/span>Hague<\/b> and <\/span>Whitecloud<\/b> have been vital parts of that strength going back to last season. The Vegas management group clearly values the trait of size in defencemen. and both Hague and Whitecloud are archetypal Golden Knights in that sense.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Welcome back Oil Country, as it\u2019s been 3 days since the Oilers defeated the Coyotes. The team continues its trip…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1245118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[191955770],"tags":[8066],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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