The Oilers take on the Maple Leafs tonight at Rogers Place and it’s a tale of two teams on very opposite sides of the good vibration charts of 2017.
With the red hot Leaves in town, the Oilers are going to have to be on their game tonight if they hope to extend their winning streak. If they’re not, this thing could get out of hand and we could have a tough night on the ice on a night when our barn is half full of enemy fans. Point being, the Oilers have been extremely inconsistent this season and when you couple that with the reality of Cam Talbot missing today’s game then you’re starting to put together a recipe for a bad time.
QUICK HITS
1. Coming into tonight’s game, the Leafs are on fire with a record of 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. Over that span, the Leafs have scored 31 goals so the Oilers will have to be on their toes if they hope to keep that GA down tonight.
2. In his last start against Buffalo, Laurent Brossoit was really solid in a game when none of his teammates showed up. Brossoit allowed only two goals on 33 shots for a .933 save% and was easily the best Oiler on the night. They’ll need him again tonight.
3. In the Leafs, Edmonton will need to stay out of the box to not give the Toronto’s 9th ranked power play (21.8%) chances to score. They’ll also have their work cut out for them on the power play as the Leafs’ PK (81.4%) is currently ranked 12th in the league. Toronto is 9-4-0 this season when they score a power play goal so it’s something the Oilers need to be aware of when they’re on the ice. Over their last seven games, the Leafs have struggled on the PP, going 2-for-14 with the man advantage.
4. At Rogers Place, the Oilers’ penalty kill is a very weak 61.1% on the season. Very obviously, a total that needs to change if they have any hopes of getting back into this season.
5. The Oilers will also have to deal with the Leafs ability to score goals in bunches. T.O.’s offence is ranked 4th in the NHL with an average of 3.50 goals per game. As a comparison, the Oilers are sitting in 26th place in the league with their average of 2.68 goals for per game. How can they eliminate that extra goal that the Leafs tend to put up on a nightly basis?
6. Over their last 11 games against the Maple Leafs, Edmonton sports an underwhelming record of 2-6-3 with Toronto outscoring our boys in orange by a margin of 46-26.
7. Connor McDavid has not been held pointless in back-to-back games this season, and he got blanked off the scoresheet against the Coyotes. There would be no better night than a multi-point Connor dominated game than tonight against Toronto.
8. Auston Matthews is goalless in five games but has still amassed 14 points in the 12 road games the Leafs have played this year. He’s obviously a player to watch and it will be interesting to see which Oilers’ line/d-pair will go up against him tonight.
9. On the other side of the ice, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has produced consistently on home ice, registering 12 points (8G, 4A) in 12 home games so far.
10. Unlike the Oilers, the Maple Leafs are a healthy team with only Joffrey Lupul being listed as injured on the official game page. Gotta love Robidas Island. I wonder how we can get one of those?
11. According to Corsica, the Oilers are still ranked fifth in expected goals for and second in overall Corsi for. Their underlying numbers are still solid, but it’s the conversion that seems to be the issue. What will it take for some rain to fall on over this dry spell?
GAME DAY QUESTIONS
- How will Laurent Brossoit handle today’s start against a high flying Leafs team?
- How will the Oilers respond to losing their starting goaltender? Can they rally in support of Laurent Brossoit?
- Everyone is talking about McDavid vs Matthews but the real battle could be between Connor and Nazim Kadri. How will Connor handle adding 200lbs to his back?
GAME NOTES BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE PINT
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Source: NHL, Official Game Page, 11/30/2017, 12:00pm MST
Good timing for the Leafs/Flames to play the Oilers… Hoo man. Hopefully the character of this team shines through in Talbot’s absence.
Character? What character?
Hope in one hand and poop in the other. See which one fills up first…my old man used to tell me that anyways.
I’m hoping that last year’s team shows up somewhere.
I predict 7-5 Oilers… like it’s 1985.
McDavid will show up. 3-2 Oil
I hope someone grabs Khadri and beats the ever-loving p*ss out of him. Won’t happen, but it’s nice to wish for things.
In more interested in the nurse Polak story let’s hope Polak mans up last time they called up a goon to fight a 18 year old kid
Actually the Oiler player lost an edge and fell into the boards (by no doing of Polak). Nurse jumped even though Polak did not cause the collision. Nurse was a smuck on that play for attacking without cause.
And completely pummeled Polak who Is a very tuff player they played again 2 games later and called up a goon to fight a 18 year old kid if Polak didn’t like he should have fought him it’s a little cowardly
Might as well prepare myself for the millions of “Matthews>McDavid” stuff I see tonight. Brossoit isn’t who I’m worried about, it’s the entire team. This is either be close or a blowout. Either way Leafs win. Best case scenario, by 1 goal
Wow. Either close or a blow out. Are you sure Kreskin?
Yeah upon reflection it can only be those too. Depends on which team shows up. Either way, I think Edmonton loses tonight p
Kreskin lol. You are old. I know because I am as well.
So annoying. Tsn brainwashing Toronto fans thinking Matthews is better then mcdavid. No way he is.
This is probably one time ill cheer for you guys. Kill those [email protected]
TSN only gets a fraction of the NHL games now, guess they’re trying desperately to hold on by pandering to the leagues biggest market.
How that involves Jeff O’Neill and his donkey brained comments is beyond me….
O’Neill is a joke –
Admittedly, I am in a horrible mood today. But if Kadri pulls the crap he pulled last year, somebody better step up and not give him an option. Nurse, Lucic, Maroon etc. should pound the face of that over-rated rat to a bloody pulp.
McDavid needs to go around Lucic like a pylon and see if Kadri makes it around that pylon. A 2 minute pick play that might be worth it.
I absolutely love it when Looch gets that look on his face that is part neanderthal, part crazy. I hope that Rat Ba$tard, pants pi$$er Kadri gets to see that look tonight.
Would be a good idea to grab a hold of him early in the game and handle it. I nominate Nurse to send Kadri to the ER…. pun intended
Leafs game tonight: TURNING POINT for the Oiler’s season, I reckon… Hoping it goes to Orange and Blue (and get this, I live in Ontario) 🙂
Remind me again why Corsi is such a good stat? Corsi says the Oilers are good, their record says they are not.
Corsi says the Oilers ‘should’ be good. The record says they aren’t. The record will change but will it trend to Corsi?
Maybe it is just me but I feel wins and loses are a more important stat than Corsi.
can’t see the oilers winning this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMrFC3Pgu2o
You will not regret watching this 6 second video about the Leafs.
“I love how simple and straight forward men can be” lol, classic comment.
Bhahaha,… so Canadian… Love it….
Huge game ! LB will have to be amazing and honestly, SOMEONE lay a pounding on Kadri.
Matthews with the quad-trick (4 goals)
So clever. I like how you put 4 goals in brackets as if you’re talking to a Flames’ crowd. I”m pretty sure we can figure that out. I’m surprised you did. You’re classic for your big predictions, which are never even close to coming true. Have fun in the bone zone, the happy place you hang out with your boyfriends I’m guessing.