GDB 65.0: Hall Will Play; Omark May Not

Despite some worries that Taylor Hall’s shoulder would keep him out of the lineup, Oilers head coach Tom Renney says that the young forward will be ready to play tonight when the Oilers take on the Anaheim Ducks. Whether or not Omark will dress is less clear.

As per the Oilers’ official Twitter feed:

The decision on whether or not to dress Omark for the game against Anaheim is complicated. In Oilers Nation’s piece on his recall, I mentioned that he was coming off a set of three games in three nights, and with the Oilers playing back-to-back games it might be sensible for the coaches to give Omark the night off with the expectation of having him fresh for Tuesday’s game.

Additionally, with the Oilers playing back to back games and carrying eight defenseman, perhaps Theo Peckham gets back into the lineup for one of these contests. Neither Corey Potter nor Cam Barker is playing very well at the moment, and the coaches have a weird willingness to scratch Andy Sutton. Additionally, Tom Renney said on Sunday that he needs to get Peckham into the lineup soon.

The Oilers and Ducks are in very different positions entering the game tonight. The Ducks have authored an improbable run that once again has them (barely) in playoff contention, while the Oilers are well out of it. Both teams, however, have lost three of their last four contests.

Game Day Prediction: The Ducks are desperate and have been much better under Bruce Boudreau; they come away with a 3-1 victory over Edmonton.

Obvious Game Day Prediction: Andy Sutton, who went minus-1 with zero hits in his last game against his former team, is eager to make amends and show the ducks they made a mistake when they let him go. He leads the Oilers in hits and has a strong defensive game.

Not So Obvious Game Day Prediction: Tom Renney decides not to dress Linus Omark in the interests of giving him one day off before putting him back in action on Tuesday. The camera pans the press box and we see an unhappy expression on Omark’s face; Oilers fans instantly read too much into it and critique his poor attitude. We later learn that he’d just discovered that Theo Peckham has more followers on Twitter.