GDB 15.0: The Oilers are fishing for their first three-game win streak of the year (6:30pm MT, SNW)

Photo credit:Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

8 months ago

The Oilers snapped their four-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Kraken on Saturday night at Climate Pledge Arena, and they’ll be looking to extend that winning streak to three tonight at Rogers Place. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s game day.

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Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Seattle Kraken, the team that got our coach fired somehow. It was only four days ago that I last wrote a GDB about a matchup against the Kraken, and in that article, I mentioned that Jay Woodcroft was fighting for his life and needed a win. As it turns out, he got the win and got canned anyway, which was very confusing to hungover me when I found the news out the following day after a wild night on the #NationVacation. The OEG brass had enough after only 13 games and out went the coach with the best winning percentage in franchise history. Strange days, friends — it’s getting weird out here. But we’re not here to dwell on the past. We’ve got a fresh coach who just picked up his first win as the head of an NHL bench, and we’re all here to see if he can do it again. What have you done for me lately, Coach Garlic? I keed, I keed.

After losing to the Oilers on Saturday night at Climate Pledge Arena, you absolutely know that the Kraken will be looking to repay the favour at Rogers Place. If the boys are going to keep their winning streak going, they’ll likely have to weather an early storm. If I were a betting man — and I am – I’d bet Gregor’s money on the fact that Seattle will come out firing and try to take the same early lead that the Oilers got in round one of this season series. At 4-4-2 in their last 10 games, the Kraken are looking to get their season back on the rails just like we are, and I’d expect nothing less than a desperate opponent who’s fighting for every inch. And if the Oilers are going to keep their winning streak going, they will have to figure out how to handle the heat defensively while also continuing to work on dialling in the offensive side of their game. The Oilers can absolutely win this game, but if they think it’s going to come easy, then we’ll end up right back in the loss column.

Let’s see what the numbers say…

THE NUMBERS

	OILERS	KRAKEN
RECORD	4-9-1	5-8-3
WIN/LOSS STREAK	W2	L2
LAST 10 GAMES	3-6-1	4-4-2
GOALS FOR	39	40
GOALS AGAINST	52	58
POWER PLAY%	26.5	25.5
PENALTY KILL%	71.7	71.4
AVG. SHOTS/FOR	34.0	29.3
AVG. SHOTS/AGAINST	29.1	31.3
TEAM SAVE%	.902	.916
CORSI FOR%	57.89	48.85
PDO	0.962	0.966
TEAM SHOOTING%	5.99	7.93
EXPECTED GOALS FOR%	58.76	50.10

Numbers courtesy of Natural Stat Trick (Sv%, CF%, PDO, Shooting%, xGF% all at 5×5)

Wednesday’s game will mark Edmonton’s second of four games against the Kraken this season and the first of two games in Edmonton. The next time these teams meet is on January 18th in Edmonton.
On November 11th at Climate Pledge Arena, Zach Hyman recorded a hat trick in the first period and became the fourth Oilers player in the past decade to record a natural hat trick. The others to do it are Connor McDavid (2x: Feb. 20th, 2021 vs. Calgary & Oct. 4th, 2017 vs. Calgary), and James Neal (Oct. 8th, 2019 at. New York Islanders), and Milan Lucic (April 6th, 2017 at San Jose Sharks).
On November 13th vs. the Islanders, Leon Draisaitl recorded his 24th career four-point game, passing Paul Coffey for sole possession of sixth most in Oilers history.

PRESENTED BY BETWAY

LINEUPS…

Oilers

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

Nurse – Ceci
Ekholm – Bouchard
Kulak – Desharnais

Skinner

With Dylan Holloway out for months and Adam Erne recalled to fill out the roster, we’ll see if this new fourth line can gain any traction. I thought Hamblin and Lavoie played pretty well on Monday night against the Islanders, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed that we lost Holloway, and the replacement is Adam Erne. I thought Holloway had a fantastic night in Seattle on Saturday, and the fact that another injury derailed his season is simply heartbreaking for the kid.

Kraken

McCann – Beniers – Yamamoto
Schwartz – Wennberg – Kartye
Tolvanen – Gourde – Bjorkstrand
Shore – Wright – Winterton

Dunn – Larsson
Oleksiak – Borgen
Dumoulin – Schultz

Grubauer

I fully expect the Kraken to hit the ice like a house on fire, and I’m fully expecting them to do everything humanly possible to jump on the Oilers early. After watching the Oilers pop four goals in the first period and basically cruise to victory from there, I’d bet the farm on them intending to do the exact same. Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them put 15+ pucks on net in the opening frame, and it will be up to Stuart Skinner to be ready to go. Stu has had a save% above .940 in his last two starts, so I’m hopeful that he’s starting to find his rhythm.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING…

From Davy Jones Lockerroom:

Simply, stay out of the penalty box. I know I just said it above, but the single thing you cannot do against the Edmonton Oilers is give them the special teams advantage. The National Hockey League has been around for a long time, so setting the all time powerplay completion percentage record is not an easy feat. That’s what the Oilers did last season, and most of the pieces involved in that powerplay remain in place.
Edmonton also just changed their coaching staff. Gone is the young, and apparently talented, Jay Woodcroft. Getting the team to the Conference Finals and semi-finals the past two years wasn’t enough currency to get him through a rough first dozen games of the season. Replacing him as head coach is Kris Knoblauch. The incomer has an impressive Junior record, collecting both Western Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League championships in his career, but he’s never been an NHL head coach. He does have a familiarity with the Oilers’ captain, having coached McDavid as an Erie Otter. Naturally, in keeping with tradition, a 1980’s Oiler has been named as one of his assistants. Paul Coffey, whose number hangs in the rafter at Rogers Place, will be on the bench as a part of the new crew.
The Oilers are a poorly run organization. They have a couple of immense talents on the roster, but it is a very realistic statement to suggest that the Kraken could beat Edmonton out for a wildcard spot this spring. That makes these two points vitally important. Let’s go squids!

TONIGHT…

Game Day Prediction: The Oilers beat the Kraken by a 4-1 score on Saturday and they follow it up with a 4-2 win in the rematch.

Obvious Game Day Prediction: Edmonton’s power play is starting to heat up lately and the boys continue the streak with another pair of goals on the man advantage.

Not-So-Obvious Game Day Prediction: Raphael Lavoie picks up his first NHL goal late in the second period.

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