Game Day Hits: Blues at Oilers
By baggedmilk
6 years agoAfter pumping the Golden Knights for eight goals on Tuesday night, the Edmonton Oilers will look for a repeat performance against the St. Louis Blues.
Coming into tonight’s game, the Oilers seem to be turning a corner in their season. Yes, the slow start was like a kick to the pills but they’ve been playing much better of late and looking more like the team we all expected to see. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is still plenty of work to do, but the fact that Edmonton is 3-1-1 in their last five games can only be considered a positive. Can they continue the trend against the Blues? Can they flex their mighty muscles once more and put another touchdown up on the board? We shall see.
QUICK HITS
1. Thirteen different players recorded points for the Oilers in Tuesday’s win over Vegas. Needless to say, they’ll be hard pressed to replicate anywhere close to that amount of offence. That said, how amazing would it be to have back-to-back games where the Oilers can put up some numbers?
2. The Blues come into tonight’s game on a two game losing streak, a trend you know they will be working hard to end. The Blues fell to the Flames by a score of 7-4 when they last played on Monday night. In their last 10 games, St. Louis has a record of 7-3-0.
3. In their history, the Oilers and Blues have squared off 131 times, with Edmonton sporting an all-time record of 56-60-11-4. Last season, the Oilers went 3-0 against the Blues.
4. Connor McDavid is starting to catch fire and it’s beautiful to watch. So far in November (8GP), the captain already has 11 points (4G, 7A) and it looks like he’s just getting started. If Connor can keep heating up, the NHL had best prepare itself for a wake of destruction. I’m stocked up on beets and water and am ready for the McMagic show.
5. The Oilers could have an advantage in the goaltending battle tonight, as Cam Talbot’s .912 save% has a slight edge over Jake Allen’s .908%. In Allen’s last five games, he has allowed 16 goals against, so the Oilers need to shoot early and shoot often, because this guy is nothing to write home about right now.
6. Before Tuesday’s win against Vegas, the Oilers sat in dead last in terms of goals for. Their eight goal outburst bumped them up six spots to 25th overall (with 46). As for GA, the Oilers sit in the middle of the pack at 17th place with 54 goals against. I assume that -8 differential will disappear as the season goes on, but there would be no better time to chip away at it than tonight.
7. The Oilers had their best special teams night of the season against the Golden Knights, going 3/3 on the power play and killing off all four penalties they faced. I’m going to assume that tonight’s game will be a tight one, and the Oilers will need their special teams to be on point if they’re going to get the advantage needed to beat the Blues.
8. Speaking of special teams, the Blues are working with the 20th ranked PK that is running at 79.0%, while their power play sits in 22nd place at 16.4%. By comparison, the Oilers’ PK is no longer ranked dead last as their kill percentage rose to 73.3%, while their power play also lept a few spots after Tuesday’s game to 13th, with a 20.0% success rate.
9. The Oilers currently sit four points out of a wildcard spot with six teams they need to jump over. That’s quite the ladder to climb, and scoring two points against the Blues will go a long way to helping them get there. I’m not saying tonight is a must win, but tonight is a must win.
10. According to Corsica, the Oilers are currently ranked second in Corsi with a 55.85%. That number indicates that the team is probably playing better than their record, but, unfortunately, Corsi don’t pay the bills and rent is due.
11. As for the fallen, the Blues will be without Jay Bouwmeester (fractured ankle), Zach Sanford (dislocated shoulder), and Robby Fabbri (Torn ACL) all of whom are currently on the IR.
12. We are 3-1-1 in the beet era. I won’t take all of the credit for this turnaround, but I will definitely take some.
WHAT HE SAID
“The last couple of hours have went quick. I’m excited to go there and have an opportunity to play. I feel great. I want to enjoy playing the game and Edmonton is a team that’s pretty exciting to join. I know it hasn’t been the start they were looking for, but it’s a team that can honestly be as good as it wants to be. I’m looking forward to it.” – Mike Cammalleri, source
Cammalleri only played 5:30, 9:52 and 11:40 in his last three games with the Kings. I wonder if a better suited role will also see a boost to his offence? Maybe I’m just being hopeful?
GAME DAY QUESTIONS
- How will Mike Cammalleri be used tonight, considering he has yet to get any practice time in? Is he even going to play? Who comes out?
- The St. Louis Blues have scored 16 more goals than the Oilers but have given up only three less. How will the defence adapt to a much more powerful offence than we saw on Tuesday?
- Which version of the special teams will we see? Will it be a dominant performance like we saw on Tuesday night or will it be the lacklustre wastes of time that we’ve seen many times this year?
Source: NHL.com, Official Game Page, 11/16/2017, 9:30am
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