Given the Oilers’ historical record in the daylight hours, it’s fair to wonder what to expect from this afternoon’s matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Yet, the team is 2-0 in the Coach Garlic era and arguably playing the most resilient brand of hockey we’ve seen all year, meaning that I have hope that we’ll be talking about a fourth straight win when we hear the final buzzer. Dearest Internet friends, it’s game day.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m fully aware that the Oilers have won their last three games without necessarily giving us perfect outings. There were points in all three of those wins when I thought it was over or that the boys would blow it, but despite the hiccups and lulls, the Oilers still found a way to close them out. Finding a way to win despite not playing their best hockey is a stark contrast from what was happening earlier in the year, and I’m hoping this recent resilience is something the Oilers will be bringing with them on this road trip. In these last three games, the Oilers found a way to score four+ goals in each while also getting the clutch saves they needed to weather any storms that came their way. Those kinds of numbers would be commonplace around here under normal circumstances, but through the first 15 games of the 2023-24 season, we’re forced to celebrate the small wins in the hopes that they turn into something bigger and better.

Heading into Tampa, the Oilers have the opportunity to extend their win streak to four games against a Lightning team that barely resembles the one the league came to fear. That’s not to say they’re a terrible team or anything — they’re still the Tampa Bay Lightning, after all — but if ever there was a time that they were vulnerable, it has to be right now in the weeks before they get Andrei Vasilevskiy back in goal. At 4-4-2 in their last 10 games, one of the Lightning’s biggest problems over that stretch is that they’ve given up an average of 3.7 goals per game, which would never usually happen had Vasilevskiy been there to patrol the crease. But don’t let that number fool you into thinking this will be easy. Despite the leaky goaltending, the Lightning still managed to score 32 goals over that same period, meaning that they’d likely be doing better than the four wins if they were able to get an extra save or two. Sound familiar? I guess the point I’m trying to make here is that the Lightning are beatable right now, and that’s an opportunity the Oilers cannot pass up, provided that they can keep the offensive touch going while also limiting the grade-A chances against.

Let’s see what the numbers say…

RNH – McDavid – Brown
Kane – Draisaitl – Hyman
Foegele – McLeod – Ryan
Erne – Hamblin – Gagner/Lavoie

Nurse – Ceci
Ekholm – Bouchard
Kulak – Desharnais

Skinner

With Connor Brown set to make his return to the lineup for the first time since November 2nd against the Dallas Stars, Kris Knoblauch chose to mix up the lines again as he works to find the perfect combo. Given that he coached both Connors with the Erie Otters, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that he wants to try them together on the top line, but I certainly hope we get more luck with the duo than we did when Woody tried to start the season. Not to mention, today will mark Brown’s 10th game of the year, triggering the $3.25 million bonus that will kick over to next season provided that the Oilers can’t fit any of it under the cap this year.

Hagel – Point – Kucherov
Stamkos – Cirelli – Paul
Jeannot – Motte – Eyssimont
Watson – Glendening – Merela

Hedman – Perbix
Sergachev – Cernak
de Haan – Raddysh

Johansson

Without Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Tampa Bay Lightning aren’t anywhere close to being the same team that went to the Stanley Cup Finals three years in a row. To take that a step further, they’ve actually given up more goals on the year than the Oilers have. That said, we all know how the Oilers tend to handle dances with the backup goaltenders, so I think a big key to winning this hockey game will be figuring out how to prevent a guy that doesn’t generally play a whole lot from looking like a Vezina candidate.

Game Day Prediction: The Oilers pick an early goal in the opening minutes of the game, setting the tone for what will be a thrilling 4-2 win.

Obvious Game Day Prediction: Connor McDavid shows the world his cold streak is over by scoring a goal in a third straight game.

Not-So-Obvious Game Day Prediction: Connor Brown hasn’t played in two weeks, but he makes an immediate impact by picking up his first goal (and point) of the season.