The Edmonton Oilers have returned after a dismal road trip out East. Thankfully, they managed to end their season-high five-game losing streak on Saturday evening against the Carolina Hurricanes. On Tuesday night, the team will look to get things back to normal when they take on the Anaheim Ducks, who have given the Oilers problems this season.
1. Mattias Ekholm, Viktor Arvidsson, and Brett Kulak all missed practice on Monday. According to head coach Kris Knoblauch, Ekholm and Arvidsson were given the optional off day after both played at 4 Nations Face-Off for Sweden last month. However, Kulak missed the skate due to illness. Darnell Nurse was also back on the ice after missing the past two games against Florida and Carolina.
2. Brett Kulak’s iron man streak will come to an end tonight if he doesn’t dress. The Oilers defenceman has played 242 games in a row and hasn’t missed a game for Edmonton since being acquired from the Montreal Canadiens three years ago. The news of Kulak possibly being unavailable comes after he played a season high 25:45 in Saturday’s 3-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Knoblauch did say he is not expected to miss any time.
3. Cam Dineen was called up on an emergency basis yesterday from the Bakersfield Condors. Dineen was a part of the Nick Bjugstad trade a couple of years ago. He’s a 26-year-old left shot defender that has played 34 NHL games, which all came with the Arizona Coyotes in the 2021-22 season. Dineen has five goals and 29 points in 45 games with Bakersfield this season.
4. Matthew Savoie skated in a top six white jersey at practice upon the teams return to Edmonton. It is yet to be known if he was skating as a fill in for Arvidsson or if he’ll check into the lineup versus Anaheim. Savoie played in three of the five games on the Oilers eastern road trip scoring a point.
5. Jason Gregor reported on Monday that Calvin Pickard is expected to start on Tuesday after stopping 36 of 37 shots against Carolina. Pickard has only started back-to-back games once for Edmonton which was games 4 and 5 versus the Vancouver Canucks in round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs last season. Pickard is now up to a 0.901SV% and a 2.61 GAA in 23 games this season.
6. Pickard has faced the Ducks six times in his career and has won three of them. He’s had a 0.904SV% and 2.86 GAA in those games allowing 17 goals. He was the Oilers’ starter when they lost to Anaheim immediately after the Christmas break. He allowed four goals on 31 shots in a 5-3 loss in what was a poor effort defensively by Edmonton.
7. Leon Draisaitl has continued to showcase why he is the front runner for the Hart Trophy, despite the Oilers’ recent struggles. He’s on an 11-game point streak scoring nine goals and seven assists for 16 points during that spell. That is now his second 11 game point streak of the season which is three away from tying his career high of 14.
8. Connor McDavid addressed his play last week, saying he wasn’t happy with his level right now. Luckily for him and Oilers fans everywhere, March is historically his best month statistically. McDavid has scored 69 goals and 207 points in 123 games in March and is +66. Those 207 points are 39 points better than his next best month, February, where he’s scored 168 points. Edmonton has 13 games this March.
9. The Anaheim Ducks are 2-2-1 since returning from the 4 Nations break. They have wins against Vancouver and Boston but have lost in regulation to both Chicago and Buffalo. Their lone overtime loss was against Detroit. Despite the inconsistencies, Leo Carlsson has played well with six points over that span and only not collecting a point versus the Vancouver.
10. John Gibson has essentially felt like an Oiler this season with the amount of conversation about him. Despite all the ranting and raving from the fan base, it seems unlikely that he comes to Edmonton this trade deadline considering his high cap hit. Nevertheless, he’s having a strong season with the Ducks with a 0.909SV% and a 2.80 GAA. He recently passed the 500 games played mark, all with the Ducks, and has a career 0.910 SV%. It is unconfirmed if he’ll play tonight against Edmonton.
11. Special teams have been a problem for the Ducks since the start of February. There power play is connecting at 10.5% (30th in the NHL) and the penalty kill is at 72% (21st in the NHL). They’ve only scored twice on the power play in there last five games.
12. Frank Seravalli updated his trade targets board to 45 yesterday. Brian Dumoulin and Trevor Zegras were the two Ducks featured. While Zegras won’t be a target for Edmonton, there could be interest in, two-time Stanley Cup champion, Dumoulin. He’s a 33 year old left shot defenceman who makes $3.15 M until the end of the season. He’d be a cheaper option and, with the unknown of Evander Kane’s availability, he might be one of few players Edmonton can fit in the cap.
