I hope you’re not tired of watching the Edmonton Oilers play during the daylight hours because we’ve got another matinee on deck this afternoon against the Buffalo Sabres.

Is anyone else confused by the Buffalo Sabres? How are they so bad? And I don’t just mean this year’s team but the entire franchise. After 13 years outside of the playoffs, the Sabres are pacing to miss the postseason again for a 14th consecutive season, and it legitimately blows my mind how that happens. They remind me of that clip from The Simpsons where Sideshow Bob keeps stepping on rakes.

As an Oilers fan who suffered through 10 straight years out of the playoffs, I know that managerial decisions are a big part of the problem, but there has to be something else, right? As an outsider looking in, I see a bunch of talented players in the lineup who just can’t seem to put the whole puzzle together. So, what is causing this black cloud that they can’t seem to shake? I know that question is more complicated than a one-word answer, but the whole story is weird, right?

At 4-5-1 in their last 10 games, the Sabres come into this afternoon’s contest well outside of a playoff spot, and not looking like they have much of a plan to claw their way back. But like any other bottom feeder, they have more than enough ability to ruin your day if you think beating them is easy. Gord knows we’ve seen the Oilers get pushed to the brink by weaker opponents many times over the years, and the only way to make sure that doesn’t happen today is to bring their best effort.

Now, in their third and final game without Connor McDavid because of his suspension, we’ve got another opportunity for players not named Leon Draisaitl to step up. Over the first two games without him, the Oilers have actually played pretty well, even though they’ve only got the 1-1 record to show. What’s been most impressive about those two games — even though I’m still annoyed about that loss to the Caps after handily outplaying them — is how the team is getting contributions from throughout the lineup.

The Oilers are almost impossible to beat when all systems are firing, and I’m looking for the good vibes to carry over into Saturday against the Sabres. That’s not to suggest that beating the Sabres is supposed to be easy, but I don’t see them having much chance if the Oilers play their game. Even without their captain, the Oilers are the better, deeper team, and any result other than collecting two points would be pretty disappointing.

Changing gears on you a little bit, I’m writing this game preview from our cabin at the Jasper Park Lodge between games at the Jasper Pond Hockey tournament, and I cannot wait for this afternoon’s viewing party in the main lodge. Not only do we have a great group of people down here for the tournament again this year, but there are plenty of Oilers fans in the mix, and I’m expecting the atmosphere to be electric. There’s nothing better than watching hockey down here at the JPL.

There’s always a different energy when you’re watching a game with a room full of people, and it’s almost surreal to do it in a setting like this. I know this doesn’t have anything to do with today’s game, but I can’t help but feel grateful to be hanging out in Jasper with some outstanding Nation Citizens, given the devastation that happened here over the summer. Now, if our boys can punctuate the afternoon with a big win, then we will really be celebrating.

Let’s see what the numbers say…

Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Arvidsson
Janmark – Nugent-Hopkins – Brown
Perry – Henrique – Hyman
J. Skinner – Philp – Kapanen

Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Stecher
Kulak – Emberson

Skinner

After dismantling the Canucks on Thursday night, I was curious to see if Kris Knoblauch would make any changes to the lineup.

Peterka – Kulich – Thompson
Kozak – Cozens – Tuch
Benson – Krebs – Quinn
Malenstyn – Lafferty – Aube-Kubel

Dahlin – Byram
Power – Samuelsson
Clifton – Jokiharju

Luukkonen

The Sabres stink, and I’m not going to lie that I’ll be pretty bummed out if the Oilers don’t find a way to crank out a win. The boys are so close to first place in the Pacific Division that they cannot allow opportunities like being a bottom feeder to pass them by. Looking at our old friend Ryan McLeod, the guy is having a great season. In 45 games, McLeod has 10 goals and 24 assists while averaging 15:35 of TOI. I’m betting on him to score today because the Hockey Gords seem to love that kind of trickery, but it would be very nice if the boys could deny the former Oiler curse.