GDB 7.0: The Long Bus Ride Into Winnipeg (7pm MT, SNW)

Welcome, fair Internet, to a brand new GDB that will help to get ourselves prepped for the first of nine matchups between the Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets. Sunday Funday win in the Peg? Yes, please.

Do you remember the last game these two teams played against each other? I certainly do. I was watching the game as news broke that the NBA had suspended play on their season after Rudy Gobert’s positive COVID-19 test, and I remember thinking that it was going to be the last Oilers game I watched for a while but with no real idea what that meant. Little did we know that game 71 would be the last time we’d watch the Oilers in more than four months and the last regular-season game played in nearly a year. Weeeeeird. Tonight these two clubs match up for the first time since March 11th and it’s got me thinking about what a weird time it is to be alive and how strange this COVID campaign really is, ya know? Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful to be able to watch hockey again but that doesn’t make the circumstances any less weird.

Historical oddness aside, the Oilers have a leak in their ship that desperately needs tending, and if they don’t start plugging it with wins in a real hurry, we’re going to find ourselves in a spot where another season is lost with Jack and the Coeur de la Mer at the bottom of the ocean. You didn’t see that timeless Oilers/Titanic metaphor coming at all, did you? Classic. My point is, even though it’s still early in the year, there really isn’t much time to climb out of a hole and the Oilers seem to have already started digging. Now, before you start freaking out one way or the other, we’re talking about a fixable problem at this point, but as anyone from Edmonton can tell you, it doesn’t take long for an unrepaired pothole to morph into a chasm that will swallow you and your family into the earth’s fiery core. All I’m saying is that there’s some pressure to turn this thing around and a win against the Jets would go a long way to making that happen, alright?

The problem with my comeback plan, of course, is that the Winnipeg Jets aren’t about to just lay down and die. This a solid hockey team that’s about to get better when @Pierre-Luc Dubois clears his quarantine, and wrestling two points away from them is going to be a tall order for an Oilers squad that is still struggling to find the back of the net. The good news is that our boys have been playing a tighter flavour of defence over the past couple of nights and if they can only get their offence going as well — at 5v5 and on the powerplay — then I think we’re going to be okay. At this stage, I’m choosing to believe that the improvements we’ve seen over the past couple of the night are going to start translating to wins. The bad news is that they have to try and make this all happen against a team that’s on a roll with sound goaltending to back them up. It’s certainly doable, but it won’t be easy. Let’s see if the Oilers can take advantage of a team that played last night.

Let’s get to the numbers…

RNH – McDavid – Puljujarvi
Kahun – Draisaitl – Yamamoto
Ennis – Turris – Kassian
Neal – Shore – Archibald

Nurse – Bear
Russell – Barrie
Koekkoek – Larsson

Koskinen

In the third period of Friday night’s game, Dave Tippett moved Jesse Puljujarvi up with McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins and the early returns were encouraging. Looking at the starting lineups that were just posted on Twitter, it looks like Puljujarvi will get the chance to start the game up on the top line, swapping places with Zack Kassian who will settle in along Turris and Ennis on the third trio. How long will it last? That’s anyone’s guess.

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

Heinola – Morrissey
Forbort – Pionk
Stanley – Beaulieu

Brossoit

The Winnipeg Jets just made a huge trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets and it’s going to be fascinating to see how it plays out. At this stage, however, the Jets are already playing well enough without their new toy and it’s going to be a major challenge for the Oilers to beat a team that’s scoring more while also allowing less than they are.

GAME DAY PREDICTION: The Oilers will avoid a two-game skid with a clutch 4-2 win.

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: People will be upset when they discover that Winnipeg does not have an airport, and Jesse Puljujarvi will score his first goal of the season after getting the chance with McNuge.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: For the first time this season, the powerplay is able to punish the Jets for their cheating with a trio of goals from James Neal, Connor McDavid, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.