We love HOME games; have Liquor Depot deliver in under an hour. Click, pick, sit back and watch the game.
After 10+ years of mind-numbing misery, Edmonton Oilers fans have so many wonderful storylines to follow that the mind boggles. As we prepare for the game tonight on the left coast, let’s have a look at some of these stories.
PACIFIC HEIGHTS
The Edmonton Oilers have ripped it up over the last 10 games, the only sin being two losses (Anaheim got the Bettman point in their two L’s during this period). One more point secures second in the division, and some strong play (two wins against Vancouver) and luck (a loss by Anaheim Sunday against LAK) would allow the Oilers to win the division. Even without winning the Pacific, Edmonton’s performance down the stretch is admirable and worthy of praise. There was a time not long ago that the Flames appeared to be a real threat for No. 3 in the division.
CONNOR MCDAVID’S HISTORIC SEASON
I keep reading about McDavid’s accomplishment this season against the Gretzky years and it becoming a little galling. Folks, today’s NHL does not resemble the 1980s version. Connor McDavid, if he scores 100 points this season, will have accomplished a very rare feat. Reaching 100 points in the modern era is one giant mountain climbed. Here are the 100-point NHL seasons since 2010-11:
In this decade, McDavid (who turned 20 in January) has posted the 7th best single season points total already, and he has two games to go. When you see his numbers compared to 99, it does a disservice to this young man’s accomplishments. Connor McDavid has delivered 97 points in 2016-17 and placed in historic terms, his season is a rocket. This needs to be recognized, we need to shout it from the highest mountain!
LINEUPS
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Patrick Maroon |
 Connor McDavid |
 Leon Draisaitl |
 Milan Lucic |
 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins |
 Jordan Eberle |
 Benoit Pouliot |
 David Desharnais |
 Zack Kassian |
 Drake Caggiula |
 Mark Letestu |
 Iiro Pakarinen |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Oscar Klefbom |
 Adam Larsson |
 Andrej Sekera |
 Kris Russell |
 Darnell Nurse |
 Matt Benning |
| Goalies |
|---|
 Cam Talbot |
At the time of posting no lineups had been released yet but we do now know that Cam Talbot gets the start.
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Daniel Sedin |
 Henrik Sedin |
 Nikolay Goldobin |
 Sven Baertschi |
 Bo Horvat |
 Brock Boeser |
 Reid Boucher |
 Brandon Sutter |
 Michael Chaput |
 Griffen Molino |
 Drew Shore |
 Jayson Megna |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Alexander Edler |
 Troy Stecher |
 Luca Sbisa |
 Chris Tanev |
 Ben Hutton |
 Nikita Tryamkin |
| Goalies |
|---|
 Ryan Miller |
Lineups (subject to change) are courtesy of DailyFaceoff.com
NOTES
- Plenty of talk about resting players this weekend, but it makes sense to play the full roster as long as playoff seeding remains in doubt. We’ll see how these two games roll out, but for Edmonton winning tonight has real value in the standings.
- The signing of William Lagesson this week further adds to the impressive group of young defensemen who will be bubbling under come the fall. Caleb Jones and Ethan Bear will turn pro with Lagesson this fall, and CHL free-agent signing Ryan Mantha will join too. Add in Ziyat Paigin (who has signed an ATO but not his entry-level deal) and we are talking five substantial prospects arriving at the same time. With Oscar Klefbom, Adam Larsson, Darnell Nurse and Matt Benning already in the NHL, the Oilers are going to be very strong at the position. That means great depth, and it also means possibly dealing from a position of strength in trade.
- The Bakersfield Condors are having a disastrous road trip and the playoff implications are dire. The Stockton Heat are up by two points with a game in hand, so the Condors are going to need to correct the mistakes (they looked very poor early in last night’s game) and hope the Heat cools during the remaining games.
- Jordan Oesterle was hit from behind in last night’s game and left on a stretcher. The hit was dangerous and anyone watching the game had to be worried, but Oesterle was released from hospital today and is reportedly doing fine.
- A lot of talk about Milan Lucic and his 5×5 scoring, it is way down year over year. On the other hand, Lucic is red hot on the 5×4. Never a strong power-play performer, this season Lucic is running at 7.24/60 scoring, No. 6 among NHL forwards.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
- Always90Four, CanucksArmy: At some point, everyone needs to acknowledge that the Sedin line needs to be demoted to the second spot and Bo Horvat and Co. to the first. You have to love Nikolay Goldobin’s play with the Sedins lately and Brock Boeser’s drive. This season might be done but these are the positives we can take from an otherwise dreadful season. Source
TONIGHT…
GAME DAY PREDICTION: The Oilers get off to a nice start, with Mark Letestu cashing on the power play early in the first period. Connor McDavid gets an assist, thus moving him to 30-68-98. Unfortunately, Bo Horvat scores late in the period to tie things up.
OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: The second period dissolves into a physical battle, with plenty of hits and a fight or two. No numbers go up on the board, 1-1 heading to the third period.
NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: A brilliant individual effort by Connor McDavid early in the third period results in his 31st goal of the year and two broken ankles for a Canucks defender. After that, the floodgates open, and Edmonton scores three more times, including point No. 100 for McDavid. Final score: Oilers score 5, Canucks score Nolan Patrick.
GDB 81 imo
Fixed!
I hope they keep the BoBoeBae line together for a while, those will be fun noises to make with my mouth.
I wonder what those jersey tossers are up to now? Probably buying McDavid jerseys and telling people how they’re die hard fans.
Dude – I find it hard to judge them… there was a really dark stretch in early 2015 where if my seats weren’t up in the nose-bleeds my Jersey might have ended up on the ice too. If I told you I didn’t think about it, it would be a lie.
Then the golden card…
Then Lowe and MacT got ushered to the wings…
Then Chiarelli and McLellan arrived…
RIP DOD. Have a great time tonight Nation!9
Honestly I think those jersey-throwers had a part in where we are now. I hope they have a jersey on and still support the Oiler. Remember how Katz put in a full page apology in the EDM Journal afterwards? I think that jersey on the ice pushed Katz to realize Lowe and MacT where not the answer and prompted him to bring in Nicholson and subsequently Chiarelli who in turn brought in Todd Mac. And here we are in the playoffs.
Can you imagine if Lowe, MacT, were still in charge today? They’d be scolding McDavid to play better defense.
Yeah that’s true. That was definitely a rough time to be an oilers fan.
Mac-t and Eakins were a joke and they both talked too much. I tried to support them but Chiarelli and T-mac are night and day compared to those guys.
No more jersey toss! More hat toss. Moaaarrrr!
No excuses to play down to our competition tonight boys. This is a team that has lost 7 straight and are plugging in roster spots with AHL players and rookies. With the divison still up for grabs and an ever slim chance of a BOA let’s hope both Alberta win out this weekend! (And the ducks can sh*t the bed tmrw)
Go Oilers go!
-Flames fan who doesn’t want to face Anaheim again
Whoever you face you’re done. The flames don’t have a roster to pull them through round one. Sorry (not really) and for what it’s worth: go flames go (don’t want the sharks to take home ice advantage)
1 point in the next two games clinches home ice for the Oilers in rnd 1.
It’s slightly poetic if 97 finished with 97 points “only”
…..but lacks the justice.
So no poetic justice. Fair point.
Hahahaha that NSOGDP
Is it wrong of me not wanting to get 1st? I wouldn’t mind the flames in round 1, round 2 would be better! Plus I don’t like Nashville as a 1st round opponent.
Oh yeah, I would play Broissiot in both games.
oops so much for that
Really doubt the Flames make it through the Ducks who are playing very solid lately. Only chance for BOA is for the Oilers to win the division.
If Nashville stays last in the conference they will play Chicago in the first round.
Damn, the Bandwagon is getting so full, they’re going to have to add a few more stories to it to fit everyone on. And i’m getting squished and am out of beer.
Lowetide is right on the money concerning our Captains awesome points total. For Connor to accomplish this in his ‘youngest ever NHL captain’ season lifts it over the stratosphere. I would like to see him send the ‘over 100’ memo to the rest of the NHL players just in time for ‘the second (Stanley) season’.
Every season that Vancouver keeps the Sedin twins around for is one more season their rebuild will take. I hope they stay around for many more seasons.
I would have given LB the start tonight and let talbot have the final game at home
I agree totally. I have a lot of respect for what the coaching staff has done these past 2 years but to me they have not handled the goal tending 100% correctly. Hard to argue with the result though: We are in the playoffs.
I would have rested Talbot tonight and played him tomorrow so he doesn’t get too long of a break before Game 1 but whatever.
Go Oilers Go!
that benning / nurse line scares the hell out of me. dont like. is gryba injured?
Don’t mean to be petty but the term is pairing not line and they are our least experienced d-men that need this current experience as it will pay big dividends for the team maybe as soon as these playoffs. Watch them grow grasshopper, they will become very good defenseman.
time and place, during a fight for a division title surely isnt it.
“Final score: Oilers score 5, Canucks score Nolan Patrick.”
YAHS! I CAN DEFINITELY GET BEHIND THIS.
I just watched (on You Tube) the intro to the last playoff game ever played in EDM. Game 6 vs Canes. If you ever need a pick-me-up I suggest you take 10 minutes out of your life and watch it. Un-real. Had me tearing up. I hope that is a blueprint for the first playoff game next week.
Awesome orange crush!!
whats the link?
YouTube.com/watch?v=CYW4MMIJAJ0. Or just search for NHL 2006 Game 6- Carolina Hurricanes vs Edmonton Oiler. It gets mental at about 4:30
thanks!
Just glad to be proud to be an Oiler fan again, no more going to bed mad.
Amen to that.
not saying anything about gretz or mcdavid
adjusted for gpg average to the modern era (80-81)
gretz would have 38g 76a over 80 games
Love Mcdavid but gretz did better even with adjusted scoring for era
If that math is sound, I’m even more ecstatic that the baby McJesus is ours! He’s only 18 points behind Gretz! Wayne was winning scoring titles by 50-100 points!
I have one things to say today, som emay like and others may not and I don’t really care.
OILERS !!!!
We are coming back like Jason in Halloween and taking down everything in our way regardless of what they have to offer. [ I hope ]
OILERS OILERS OILERS. Flags out , Flags on vehicles check , Oilers Jacket on ? check.
Snooze before game ? to be determined on beer left.
GO OIL.
I can’t wait for the first ever playoff GDB.
GAME DAY, BITCHESSSSSSS
Here’s to the boys winning tonight, locking up 2nd in the division with the possibility for more. And the Canucks losing out so they got the best chance at getting Nolan Patrick, so that the Canucks can start a rebuild and we can have strong Canadian teams.
Nah, the curmudgeon in me says screw the Flames, Nucks, Habs and Leafs (in that order). Ottawa – who cares, I have a more visceral reaction to the Wild than Ottawa. Jets – that’s cute – wake me up when you have a goaltender.
I want Vancouver “fans” to soak up a full decade of pain and know the depths like we have. Nothing else could possibly suffice. Good hockey is nice, but I prefer they get a few years of laughing stock, I’m ever hungry for schadenfreude.
…97 needs to pound these canuck fockers TOnite and get 4 points there in lotusland then come home and get at least even with 87 to show who’s the next boss…99 wrote scripts (50in39 & 1851 night AT HOME ) …why can’t 97!!!
Oh yeah! At the game folks. Lots of Oil here! Nurse looked fired up in the warm up. Expect a good one.
Call me crazy but I prefer what Adam Larsson brings to the table over what Taylor Hall brings.
ok can we stop bringing up hall? its over hes gone. its done its been talked to death. LET.IT.GO.
Stecher: that’s gonna leave a mark.
Refs: where’s the fkn holding call on Stecher?
san jose beating the flames. At least Edmonton is taking care of their own business.
Just a note to the mods that your “Sort by date” feature doesn’t work at all.
Orange crush
Good one!