GDB 43.0: Back to Work (5pm MT, CBC)

After a week on the sideline, the Edmonton Oilers will finally be back in action tonight as they face off against the Winnipeg Jets as the late early game on Hockey Night in Canada.

Doesn’t it seem like forever ago that the Oilers last played? Even though we’ve had games postponed and re-arranged a few times now, I’m still having a hard time wrapping my brain around the oddness of games being moved at the last minute or postponed because of the pandemic. We’ve been living through this joyless nonsense for over a year now so you’d think that I’d be used to the never-ending parade of strangeness but it just doesn’t seem to happen. I mean, could you have ever expected in your life a time when you would wake up on an Oilers game day only to have the game postponed or pushed back only hours from puck drop? Even tonight’s game was supposed to start at 8 PM but was changed to 5 PM yesterday afternoon, and I guarantee you that there are people out there that will have missed the news and thus the game itself. These are strange days, my friends, and all I can say is that I’m happy we’re riding through this thing together.

Alright, enough of me rambling…

When it comes to the task at hand, I will admit to everyone reading this now that I am nervous about how this game will play out. I’m worried that the week off will leave the boys looking rusty after having their slate of games against the Canucks were wiped out because of COVID. I’m sure the rest and practice time was nice, but that’s not the same as competing in game action. Adding to my stress is the fact that the potentially rusty (but rested!) Oilers are going up against a Winnipeg Jets team that is absolutely rolling right now and just walked through the Leafs with a lopsided win. Toss in the fact that Connor Hellebuyck has the ability to singlehandedly change the outcome on his own and you’ve got a laundry list of reasons for me to feel doubtful. The good news, though, is that the Oilers have played well against the Jets in 2021 and maybe this is the exact matchup they need to get themselves back up and running.

Let’s see what the numbers say…

Through six meetings so far, Edmonton has a 4-2 record against the Peg and has outscored them by a 22-20 margin with McDavid leading the way with 13 points over that span.

Draisaitl – McDavid – Puljujarvi
Kahun – Haas – Yamamoto
Shore – Khaira – Archibald
Kassian – Turris – Chiasson

Nurse – Barrie
Russell – Larsson
Jones – Bear

Smith

No RNH again tonight means Dave Tippett had a choice to make of keeping McDrai together or splitting them up and spreading the offence around. At the time of posting, I couldn’t find anything concrete in terms of line combos but I’ll be sure to jump back in and make the edits when news comes out.

Connor – Scheifele – Copp
Statsny – Dubois – Ehlers
Perreault – Lowry – Appleton
Harkins – Thompson – Lewis

Morrissey – Poolman
Forbort – Pionk
Stanley – Demelo

Hellebuyck

The Jets depth down the middle is really annoying to me. The Oilers could do it with McDavid, Draisaitl, and Nuge but they don’t really have the wingers to really make it work. Regardless, the Jets are a team that gets scoring throughout their lineup and don’t give up a whole lot in their own end either. Needless to say, this is going to be a sizeable challenge for the Oilers for their first game in a week.

Game Day Prediction: The Oilers destroy my concerns about looking rusty and walk away from tonight’s contest with a 4-2 win.

Obvious Game Day Prediction: There will be some very confused people that sit down to watch the Oilers game at 8pm only to realize they changed the start time and that the game is already over.

Not-So-Obvious Game Day Prediction: Mike Smith doesn’t like how Connor Hellebuyck gets all of the love in this goalie matchup and he gives him a death stare pre-game that rattles the defending Vezina winner to his core.

When you have the two best players on the planet, the only option is to make a t-shirt that reflects their brilliance. Shine bright, boys. Pick up the Dynamic Duo tee here.