GDB 78.0: LAST ROAD SHOW
By Jason Gregor
10 years ago
The Oilers wrap up their road schedule tonight in Phoenix. Only Buffalo has won fewer road games, 8, than the Oilers’ 12. Florida’s final five games are all at home, and if the Oilers do win tonight they will tie the Panthers with 13 road wins.
Regardless of what happens tonight, this won’t be the worst road season in Edmonton history. In 1993/1994 the Oilers won a measly 8 of their 42 road games and in 2009/2010 they won 9, while in 1992/1993 they won 10. Hopefully one day in the next five years we are talking about competing for most wins, not fewest
The Coyotes have won all four meetings so far this season, including 5-4 and 4-3 OT wins at home. Prior to this season the Oilers were 7-6-2 in their last 15 visits to Phoenix, but this year they’ve been dominated by their Pacific division foes to the tune of 5-16-4.
The top line and/or Ben Scrivens will most likely have to carry the team on their back if they hope to pick up their 13th road win.
LINEUP
Hall-RNH-Eberle
Lander-Gagner-Perron
Smyth-Gordon-Hendricks
Pinizzotto-Acton-Larsen
Lander-Gagner-Perron
Smyth-Gordon-Hendricks
Pinizzotto-Acton-Larsen
Marincin-Petry
Klefbom-Schultz
Fraser-Belov
Klefbom-Schultz
Fraser-Belov
Scrivens
On Wednesday in Anaheim, RNH’s line combined for 19 shots. Sam Gagner was the only other regular forward to register a shot, he had five. Larsen had three, Belov had two while Marincin and Klefbom each had one.
The other lines barely registered any sort of offensive pulse. I understand the team is banged up and it is late in the year, but Lander was the only remaining forward to even throw a puck on net, and his shot was blocked. They need a better offensive effort from the rest of the team tonight.
QUICK HITS…
- Hall needs 7 points in the final 5 games to reach 80. The way the top line is playing I think that is very realistic.
- Hall, Eberle and Perron are tied for the team lead in goals with 26. I’ll pick Eberle to finish in the lead by one over Hall.
- Keith Yandle is one of three D-men to lead their team in scoring. Erik Karlsson leads Ottawa with 70 points, Yandle has 51 for the Coyotes and Shea Weber has 50 in Nashville.
- Nashville and Phoenix are two of the seven teams who don’t have a forward with at least 50 points. Detroit (injuries and Nyquist late call up are main reason), Buffalo, Florida, Calgary and Vancouver are the others. The Flames (Hudler 49), Coyotes (Vrbata 49) and Red Wings (Nyqvist 46 in 51 games) will likely get there, but it shows how far the Canucks have fallen offensively.
- The Oilers have officially secured a 14.2% to win the draft lottery. The best they can finish is 28th. They are one point back of Florida, and if they pass they will go into the April 15th lottery with the 3rd highest chance to win. If they stay in 29th, they will have a 18.8% chance of winning. Holy *&#% it will be nice when I don’t have to write about the lottery odds between January to April.
- The Oil Kings spanked the Wheat Kings 5-0 last night and they play game two Saturday at noon at Rexall Place. The 13-0 Edmonton Rush can secure first overall in the entire league at 8 p.m. on Saturday when they face Colorado. If you’re tired of leaving Rexall in a bad mood, I suggest you attend one, or both, this weekend. Those teams are great and to paraphrase Jay Brown, “They actually deserve good fans.”
TONIGHT…
GAME DAY PREDICTION: It is positive Friday, and since I don’t see the Oilers winning, 4-3 loss, at least Adrianna Lima will brighten up your day.
OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: The first line scores two goals. Eberle and Hall.
NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: The losing finally catches up to Wanye Gretz. He elects to update his Tinder profile, instead of watching the game, with a new picture and the hopes he’ll have better luck. In his old picture he had pieces of Eberle’s hair in his hand, but that was too creepy, so he elects to just hold his Eberle doll in his updated photo. Good luck Wanye, good luck.
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