GDB 37.0: The break is over, back to work (6pm MST, SNW)

Photo credit:Tom Kostiuk

6 years ago

I hope everyone had an excellent Christmas break because the Oilers are back in action to take on the Winnipeg Jets. My friends, it’s game day.

After the Oilers pummeled the Canadiens in their last game before Christmas, I wrote that I was almost disappointed that we were going to have a three day break between games. The boys are firing on all cylinders right now and I wanted the momentum to keep building. Unfortunately, the NHL doesn’t give me a say in terms of scheduling so all that’s left to do is hope that the tryptophan hangover has cleared and that the boys got a good nap in on the plane. Hopes aside, the first game back from any break is always a toss up and it will be crucial for the Oilers to make sure they’re ready to play after the mini vacay and a tough travel day.

The last time these two teams met, the Oilers got absolutely dummied on the ice and on the scoreboard. It was only the third game of the season, but it could be a contender for one of the Oilers’ worst. The giveaways were plentiful, the goaltending was lacklustre, and anything that could go wrong probably did, likely with the end result being the puck in the back of the net. Needless to say, if the Oilers are going to avenge that loss they’re going to have to keep looking like the team we’ve been watching in December and not the one from October we’re drinking to forget. If they can hit the ground running and Cam Talbot can summon the Dadbot then the Oilers will be in good shape.

Tonight’s game is a winnable one, but the Jets are a great team at home so we’ll have to see if the boys made it back from Christmas ready to play.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

Coming into today’s game, the Oilers are riding a season high four-game winning streak as they will look to keep that train rolling and further their ascent up the Western Conference standings. Meanwhile, the Jets have had an excellent start to the season but have lost their past two games (Bruins, Islanders) and are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games. Currently, the Jets are holding onto third place in the Central Division with a 20-11-6 overall record.
In this morning’s quick hits, the thing that stuck out the most to me was when Gregor wrote about the Jets being 12-3-1 on home ice. In their last 13 home games, Winnipeg has dominated their opponents on the scoreboard (60-28) and have turned that into an 11-1-1 record.
Looking at the goal differentials, the Jets lead in that department by a significant margin as their +16 (121GF, 105GA) dwarfs Edmonton’s -5 (108GF, 113GA). That said, the Oilers have been putting up decent numbers lately (back-ups aside) and it won’t be long before that negative goal ratio turns positive if the boys can maintain what’s been happening on the ice.
Looking at the special teams, the Oilers would be best served to stay out of the penalty box as the Jets are currently ranked 4th on the man advantage with a 24.1% success rate. Needless to say, the Oilers’ woeful 72.8% PK doesn’t exactly instill a whole lot of confidence and it would probably be for the best if they can just stay out of the box. On the flip side, the Jets 20th ranked PK (79.7% kill rate) isn’t exactly anything worth writing home about either, though it’s still quite a bit better than what’s going on in Edmonton. Meanwhile, the Oilers will need to get more from their power play as we get into the back half of the season as their 16.8% success rate has them sitting in 22nd place in the NHL.
According to the fancies at Corsica, the Oilers keep excelling at getting pucks directed towards the net as their 53.58% Corsi For Percentage ranks second in the NHL. They’re getting shots on net at a high rate, and now we have to hope that they keep going in. At the current levels, the Oilers Expected Goals For is also high as they sit third in the NHL.

LINEUPS…

Oilers

Lucic-McDavid-Puljujarvi
Maroon-RNH-Caggiula
Khaira-Draisaitl-Strome
Cammalleri-Letestu-Kassian

Nurse-Russell
Davidson-Larsson
Sekera-Benning

Talbot

Oilers decide to roll with the same line combinations that won them their past couple so it makes perfect sense to keep the band together and hope the good times continue.

JETS

Connor-Scheifele-Wheeler
Ehlers-Little-Laine
Copp-Lowry-Tanev
Perreault-Hendricks-Armia

Morrissey-Trouba
Kulikov-Myers
Chiarot-Poolman

Hellebuyck

Jets lineups (subject to change) are courtesy of DailyFaceoff.com

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING…

From Jetsnation:

Fun fact: Connor McDavid has yet to ever score a regular season goal against the Jets. In six career games played against Winnipeg, McDavid only has six assists, so the doom and gloom Jets fans have felt leading up to tonight’s game may not be as big a concern as one would think, but you also have to think he’s due for a goal or three, given the state of the Jets defense right now and considering McDavid has seemed to have found an even higher level of play to start the season.

TONIGHT…

Photoshop: Tom Kostiuk

GAME DAY PREDICTION: The Oilers come back from the break hungry and ready to play. The goals keep coming for our beloved heroes and they extend the winning streak to five games with a 5-3 finish.

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: The power play gets its fair share of chances and the Oilers will excel at passing the puck around the perimeter.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Feeling the unfortunate burden and depression of having to go back to Winnipeg after the Christmas break, the Jets get off to a slow start, turn the puck over at their own blue line, and give Connor McDavid a clean look at the net. From there, the captain rips a quick wrister top shelf to open the scoring.