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GDB 69.0: Oilers Chasing Franchise Record (7pm MT, SNW)

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Photo credit:© Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Jason Gregor
1 year ago
The Edmonton Oilers will look to tie a franchise record of nine consecutive home victories tonight when they face the St. Louis Blues. In 2017 the Oilers won their final nine regular season home games from March 14th to April 9th. They outscored the opposition 35-13. @Connor McDavid and @Leon Draisaitl each had 16 points in the nine games and Patrick Maroon led them with six goals.
During their current eight-game home winning streak the Oilers have been equally dominant.
They’ve outscored teams 41-19. McDavid has 8-8-16 while Draisaitl has 7-5-12 and @Kailer Yamamoto has produced 5-5-10. So far 10 players have at least five points in the eight games and 13 players have scored a goal.
Their power play is 32% (8-for-25) and the penalty kill is 86.4% (killed off 19 of 22), and they’ve scored one shorthanded goal. They are outshooting teams on average 39.1-32.3 and they outscored opponents 27-16 at 5×5.
It has been one of the most dominant home stretches in franchise history, and as the Oilers battle the Los Angeles Kings for home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, continuing to be a dominant home team is a must.
Since Jay Woodcroft was hired the Oilers are 10-2 at home and 5-5-2 on the road. The opposition has been a factor. At home, they went 7-1 v. non-playoff teams and 3-1 playoff teams. On the road they went 2-5-1 against playoff teams and 3-0-1 against non-playoff teams.
They did defeat the Kings on the road and at home, but even against playoff teams home ice has been an advantage lately. The Oilers have a .750 points% at home and .312P% on the road.
Off the 17 teams guaranteed in the playoffs or in the playoff hunt, only LA (18-14-4) and Washington (16-14-5) haven’t won more than half their home games. However, the Capitals have the best winning%, and best points% on the road. They are 21-7-5 thus far. Conversely, the Oilers have the lowest winning% on the road of the 17 teams.
Home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs will be huge for the Oilers, and in order to finish second in the Pacific, they need to remain dominant at home in April. Edmonton hosts St. Louis, Colorado, Vegas, Dallas, Colorado, San Jose and Vancouver this month, while travelling to Anaheim, San Jose, LA, Minnesota, Nashville, Columbus and Pittsburgh.
They will get a good dose of playoff opponents on the road and at home this month, and continuing their home dominance will be a must if they want to open up the 2022 playoff on home ice.

LINEUPS…

Oilers

Kane – McDavid – Puljujarvi
Hyman – Draisaitl – Yamamoto
Brassard – RNH – Kassian
Foegele – McLeod – Archibald
Nurse – Ceci
Keith – Bouchard
Kulak – Barrie
Smith
@Derek Ryan is out and @Zack Kassian is in. I believe Josh Archibald remains in the lineup because he is only eligible to play one of the next six games. They are on the road for three, home to Colorado and then back on the road for two. I understand those asking: Why play him if he can’t play regularly? Three weeks ago when Puljujarvi, RNH and Kassian were out of the lineup and Brassard wasn’t on the team playing, Archibald made sense, but now it doesn’t. I think he will have a hard time getting in the lineup later in the month and into May.
Leon Draisaitl needs one goal to reach 50 for the second time in his career, and he needs one power play goal to set a new franchise high for most PP goals in a season. He could do both with a PP goal tonight.
@Mike Smith gets the start. He has a .915Sv% in his last three starts.

Blues

Saad – O’Reilly – Perron
Buchnevich – Thomas – Tarasenko
Barbashev – Schenn – Toropchenko
Maceachern – Brown – Walker
Scandella – Parayko
Leddy  – Faulk
Rosen – Bortuzzo
Binnington
The Blues could be without their leading scorer Jordan Kyrou. He missed last game with an illness, and today he stayed out late after the morning skate, which is usually a sign a player won’t play that night. The Blues have had some sort of flu bug going around for a few weeks. Torey Krug is also out week-to-week with a wrist injury.
Jordan Binnington gets the start. He has only started 10 games since January 7th and he is 3-6-1 with a .888Sv% and 3.46 GAA. At the same time Ville Husso is 15-4-3 with a .921Sv% and 2.38 GAA. Husso will start tomorrow in Calgary. So the Oilers catch a break. We’ll see if they can take advantage of it.

TONIGHT…

Photoshop: Tom Kostiuk
GAME DAY PREDICTION: Oilers tie their franchise record with their 9th consecutive home victory in a 5-3 win.
OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Draisaitl scores his 50th goal of the season.
NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Warren Foegele scores his first goal against the Blues.

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