I love the smell of burned-out Flames in the morning. In southern Alberta today, there has to be at least a little bit of humility. For Oilers fans, it’s a glorious fall day after a hint of what may be to come. The 0-4 start has been at least somewhat forgotten, and it’s on to Vancouver to slay another paper tiger. Or so we hope.
In some ways, it reminded me of the first Saturday night national game featuring the Oilers of Gretzky (the Stan Weir penalty-shot game) and the resulting verbal after the game is in fact similar. The world knows Connor McDavid is an Oiler, but it’s not quite real until the team comes into your town and leaves you in shambles.
In past seasons, the Edmonton Oilers were a bad organization and made decisions for reasons other than winning. If you want to know why it’s taking so long to turn north, consider the absolute ridiculousness of not giving Petry a long-term deal. Good grief, Oilers. Are the people who made that decision still invited to the meetings?

DON’T GET ABOVE YOUR RAISING!

Last night was a wonderful evening, but we would do well to use some of that humility being trucked into Calgary right now. Consider:
  • The Flames were playing back-to-back and three games in four nights
  • The Oilers ARE playing back-to-back and three games in four nights.
The Canucks aren’t a strong team despite their record and can be beaten. The Oilers are better than their 1-4 record (I believe) but they may not have their legs in the third period tonight.

PROJECTED LINEUP OILERS

Oilers lineup courtesy of DailyFaceoff.com

PROJECTED LINEUP MUSHROOM EATERS

Canucks lineup courtesy of DailyFaceoff.com

QUICK HITS

  • Vancouver went 4 for 21 on the power play last season against
    Edmonton and 14 for 16 on the penalty kill. Radim Vrbata scored three of
    those man-advantage goals while finishing with four goals and four
    assists in the series.
  • Vrbata, who doesn’t have a point so far
    this season, will try to snap that slump by adding to his six goals and
    nine assists in his past 10 meetings.
  • Daniel Sedin had a team-best
    10 points (two goals, eight assists) in last season’s five matchups
    while Henrik Sedin provided one goal and seven assists.
  • Miller is
    12-0-0 with a 2.23 goals-against average lifetime versus the Oilers,
    winning all five games between the teams last season.
  • Source

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

From Canucks Army…
Rarely am I wrong on my hot takes and with the Oilers at the Rog tonight I’m feeling especially hot. Edmonton is coming off a big win in Calgary, they probably didn’t get a lot of sleep and Taylor Hall missed the bus to the game  (also a guess). In true Canucks fashion, the Oilers score first but its the Canucks who finish on top. Adam Cracknell will somehow get a goal and the Canucks skate away with the W.

TONIGHT…..

GAME DAY PREDICTION: The Oilers start well and are at 1-1 after 20. In the second period, Edmonton spends extended time shorthanded and trail 2-1 after two. Three goals in the third—two by the Oilers—get us to OT where one of the piss-cutter Sedins ends the evening 4-3 Canucks. 
OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: The third pairing has a tough time with the Horvat line and it costs them. 
NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION:
Anders Nilsson’s performance in goal, especially during the second period, has Oilers fans wondering about two good goalies and why they haven’t had that this century.