<p>It’s the first Saturday night on <a href="https://oilersnation.com/schedule">the NHL schedule</a>, and our beloved Edmonton Oilers are <a href="https://publish.oilersnation.com/2024/10/12/oilers-game-notes-2-0-edmonton-hosts-chicago-seeking-first-win/">welcoming the Chicago Blackhawks</a> to Rogers Place for the first of three meetings of the year. Is there a better time for a McDavid vs. Bedard matchup than in the late slot on Hockey Night in Canada? No, I didn’t think so either.</p>
<p>Is anyone else excited about having our first Hockey Night in Canada matchup of the season? I’m excited. Even with <a href="https://publish.oilersnation.com/2024/10/09/instant-reaction-oilers-drop-season-opener-for-second-straight-year-lose-6-0-to-the-jets/">the horrific result against Winnipeg</a> on Wednesday, having the Oilers play on hockey’s biggest stage always feels a little bit more special. Toss in the fact that we have Connor McDavid and Connor Bedard squaring off for the first time this season, and you’ve got the makings of a tasty little Saturday.</p>
<p>Even with the fun of having a generational showdown happening tonight at Rogers Place, this is still a big game for our beloved squadron. Knowing how poorly the 2023-24 season started and how it affected the Oilers’ ability to lock in home ice down the line, finding ways to win games early in the season ends up being more important than it seems at the moment. Not to mention, getting stomped 6-0 in the opener was a result that the team can&#8217;t let turn into something bigger than just one bad game.</p>
<p>By no means am I overreacting or panicking about one loss, but the Oilers looked terribly disjointed against the Jets on Wednesday, and they can&#8217;t let that happen for two games in a row. No, it wouldn&#8217;t be the end of the world even if they lost a second straight game, but there has to be some forward progress in what we see on the ice. I was in the stands for the opener, and it was stunning how rusty the Oilers looked and how much they struggled to string together more than a few positive plays.</p>
<p>Simply put, the boys need to be better&#8230; way better.</p>
<p>Standing in their way is a Chicago Blackhawks team that&#8217;s coming into Rogers Place on the second half of a back-to-back set. Losers of their first two games, the Blackhawks should be bringing plenty of urgency to tonight&#8217;s contest, and the Oilers will have to be ready to deal with that. Usually, when they&#8217;re at their best, I think we&#8217;d all expect the Oilers to weather any storm Chicago throws their way, but I&#8217;m not feeling as confident after watching what we all witnessed <a href="https://publish.oilersnation.com/2024/10/10/the-day-after-1-0-oilers-raise-western-conference-banner-but-dont-have-banner-night/">on Wednesday</a>.</p>
<p>Let’s see what the numbers say…</p>
<h1><strong>THE NUMBERS</strong></h1>
<div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="CONNOR VS CONNOR | PREGAMING WITH BORDZY - October 12th, 2024" width="1424" height="801" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XN008sPh9nE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<h1></h1>
<table style="height: 330px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"></td>
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>OILERS</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>BLACKHAWKS</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>RECORD</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">0-1-0</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">0-1-1</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>WIN/LOSS STREAK</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">L1</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">L2</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>GOALS FOR</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">0</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">3</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>GOALS AGAINST</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">6</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">7</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>POWER PLAY%</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">0.0</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">0.00</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>PENALTY KILL%</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">33.3</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">100.0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>AVG. SHOTS/FOR</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">30.0</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">26.0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>AVG. SHOTS/AGAINST</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">20.0</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">31.0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>TEAM SAVE%</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">.778</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">.922</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>CORSI FOR%</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">65.09</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">47.95</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>PDO</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">0.778</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">0.987</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>TEAM SHOOTING%</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">0.00</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">6.52</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>EXPECTED GOALS FOR%</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">55.24</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">53.00</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Numbers courtesy of <a href="https://www.naturalstattrick.com/teamtable.php" rel="external noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="external">Natural Stat Trick</a> (Sv%, CF%, PDO, Shooting%, xGF% all at 5×5)</em></p>
<ul>
<li>The Oilers swept the last two season series vs. the Blackhawks, outscoring them 27-14 over the six games played. The Oilers have earned at least a point in eight of the last nine (7-1-1) regular season matchups. If you want to stretch the records out longer than the previous two seasons, the Blackhawks are 16-12-2 in their last 30 games against the Oilers since the start of the 2013-14 season.</li>
<li>Former Oiler Taylor Hall has seven points (2G, 5A) in 11 career games versus the club that drafted him, including a two-assist performance on his last trip to Rogers Place back on December 9th, 2021, when he was still with the Bruins.</li>
</ul>
<h1>LINEUPS…</h1>
<h3><a href="https://oilersnation.com/combinations"><strong>Oilers</strong></a></h3>
<p>RNH &#8211; McDavid &#8211; Hyman<br />
Skinner &#8211; Draisaitl &#8211; Arvidsson<br />
Janmark &#8211; Henrique &#8211; Brown<br />
Podkolzin &#8211; Ryan &#8211; Perry</p>
<p>Ekholm &#8211; Bouchard<br />
Nurse &#8211; Dermott<br />
Kulak &#8211; Emberson</p>
<p>Pickard</p>
<p><a href="https://publish.oilersnation.com/2024/10/12/edmonton-oilers-shake-up-defensive-pairings-calvin-pickard-gets-first-start-of-the-season-against-the-blackhawks/">Kris Knoblauch is changing up his defensive pairings</a> for game two after the defensive coverage against the Jets was anything but sound. Ty Emberson really struggled in the opener, and hopefully, saddling him with Brett Kulak will be the key to calming his game down a bit. The other change of note is that Calvin Pickard will get the start on Saturday, meaning Stuart Skinner will be tasked with stopping the Flames on Sunday.</p>
<h3><strong>Blackhawks</strong></h3>
<p>Mikheyev &#8211; Bedard &#8211; Teravainen<br />
Hall &#8211; Kurashev &#8211; Bertuzzi<br />
Foligno &#8211; Dickinson &#8211; Anderson<br />
Maroon &#8211; Donato &#8211; Smith</p>
<p>Martinez &#8211; Jones<br />
Vlasic &#8211; Brodie<br />
Allan &#8211; Murphy</p>
<p>Mrazek</p>
<p>The Blackhawks fell 2-1 in overtime to the Jets on Friday night in Winnipeg, but the real story of that game was how Chicago kept Winnipeg off the board for nearly 60 minutes. Despite being a younger team with very few expectations on them, the Blackhawks gave the Jets everything they could handle, which is a far cry from what we got with the same matchup two days ago. I guess the point I&#8217;m getting at here is that the Oilers had better be ready to go or risk the Blackhawks coming into their barn and stealing their lunch money.</p>
<h1>TONIGHT…</h1>
<figure id="attachment_162116" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-162116" style="width: 805px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://t.co/lEwdTvE2QI"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-162116" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/GDB-Edmonton-Oilers-Chicago-Blackhawks-Stuart-Skinner-1024x819.jpg" alt="Edmonton Oilers Stuart Skinner photoshop" width="805" height="644" srcset="https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/GDB-Edmonton-Oilers-Chicago-Blackhawks-Stuart-Skinner-1024x819.jpg 1024w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/GDB-Edmonton-Oilers-Chicago-Blackhawks-Stuart-Skinner-300x240.jpg 300w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/GDB-Edmonton-Oilers-Chicago-Blackhawks-Stuart-Skinner-768x614.jpg 768w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/GDB-Edmonton-Oilers-Chicago-Blackhawks-Stuart-Skinner-1536x1229.jpg 1536w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/GDB-Edmonton-Oilers-Chicago-Blackhawks-Stuart-Skinner.jpg 2000w" sizes="(max-width: 805px) 100vw, 805px" /></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-162116" class="wp-caption-text"><a href="https://t.co/lEwdTvE2QI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Photoshop: Tom Kostiuk</a></figcaption></figure>
<p><strong>Game Day Prediction:</strong> The Oilers handle their business in front of a cautiously optimistic hometown crowd, securing a convincing 6-1 win.</p>
<p><strong>Obvious Game Day Prediction:</strong> Connor McDavid finds Leon Draisaitl in his office in the right circle for a classic Oilers PP goal.</p>
<p><strong>Not-So-Obvious Game Day Prediction:</strong> Ty Emberson picks up his first goal as an Oiler with a seeing-eye wrister from the point, rebounding nicely from the tough night he had in <a href="https://publish.oilersnation.com/2024/10/10/oilers-got-stomped-6-0-by-the-jets-prompting-half-of-the-rogers-place-crowd-to-leave-early/">the opener</a>.</p>
<h2><strong>ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365</strong></h2>
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Edmonton Oilers Connor McDavid vs. Chicago Blackhawks Connor Bedard

It’s the first Saturday night on <a href="https://oilersnation.com/schedule">the NHL schedule</a>, and our beloved Edmonton Oilers are <a href="https://publish.oilersnation.com/2024/10/12/oilers-game-notes-2-0-edmonton-hosts-chicago-seeking-first-win/">welcoming the Chicago Blackhawks</a> to Rogers Place for the first of three meetings of the year. Is there a better time for a McDavid vs. Bedard matchup than in the late slot on Hockey Night in Canada? No, I didn’t think so either.

Is anyone else excited about having our first Hockey Night in Canada matchup of the season? I’m excited. Even with <a href="https://publish.oilersnation.com/2024/10/09/instant-reaction-oilers-drop-season-opener-for-second-straight-year-lose-6-0-to-the-jets/">the horrific result against Winnipeg</a> on Wednesday, having the Oilers play on hockey’s biggest stage always feels a little bit more special. Toss in the fact that we have Connor McDavid and Connor Bedard squaring off for the first time this season, and you’ve got the makings of a tasty little Saturday.

Even with the fun of having a generational showdown happening tonight at Rogers Place, this is still a big game for our beloved squadron. Knowing how poorly the 2023-24 season started and how it affected the Oilers’ ability to lock in home ice down the line, finding ways to win games early in the season ends up being more important than it seems at the moment. Not to mention, getting stomped 6-0 in the opener was a result that the team can't let turn into something bigger than just one bad game.

By no means am I overreacting or panicking about one loss, but the Oilers looked terribly disjointed against the Jets on Wednesday, and they can't let that happen for two games in a row. No, it wouldn't be the end of the world even if they lost a second straight game, but there has to be some forward progress in what we see on the ice. I was in the stands for the opener, and it was stunning how rusty the Oilers looked and how much they struggled to string together more than a few positive plays.

Simply put, the boys need to be better... way better.

Standing in their way is a Chicago Blackhawks team that's coming into Rogers Place on the second half of a back-to-back set. Losers of their first two games, the Blackhawks should be bringing plenty of urgency to tonight's contest, and the Oilers will have to be ready to deal with that. Usually, when they're at their best, I think we'd all expect the Oilers to weather any storm Chicago throws their way, but I'm not feeling as confident after watching what we all witnessed <a href="https://publish.oilersnation.com/2024/10/10/the-day-after-1-0-oilers-raise-western-conference-banner-but-dont-have-banner-night/">on Wednesday</a>.

Let’s see what the numbers say…
<h1><strong>THE NUMBERS</strong></h1>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN008sPh9nE
<h1></h1>
<table style="height: 330px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"></td>
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>OILERS</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>BLACKHAWKS</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>RECORD</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">0-1-0</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">0-1-1</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>WIN/LOSS STREAK</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">L1</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">L2</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>GOALS FOR</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">0</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">3</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>GOALS AGAINST</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">6</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">7</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>POWER PLAY%</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">0.0</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">0.00</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>PENALTY KILL%</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">33.3</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">100.0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>AVG. SHOTS/FOR</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">30.0</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">26.0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>AVG. SHOTS/AGAINST</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">20.0</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">31.0</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>TEAM SAVE%</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">.778</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">.922</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>CORSI FOR%</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">65.09</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">47.95</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>PDO</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">0.778</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">0.987</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>TEAM SHOOTING%</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">0.00</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">6.52</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22px;">
<td style="height: 22px;"><strong>EXPECTED GOALS FOR%</strong></td>
<td style="height: 22px;">55.24</td>
<td style="height: 22px;">53.00</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<em>Numbers courtesy of <a href="https://www.naturalstattrick.com/teamtable.php" rel="external noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="external">Natural Stat Trick</a> (Sv%, CF%, PDO, Shooting%, xGF% all at 5×5)</em>
<ul>
 	<li>The Oilers swept the last two season series vs. the Blackhawks, outscoring them 27-14 over the six games played. The Oilers have earned at least a point in eight of the last nine (7-1-1) regular season matchups. If you want to stretch the records out longer than the previous two seasons, the Blackhawks are 16-12-2 in their last 30 games against the Oilers since the start of the 2013-14 season.</li>
 	<li>Former Oiler Taylor Hall has seven points (2G, 5A) in 11 career games versus the club that drafted him, including a two-assist performance on his last trip to Rogers Place back on December 9th, 2021, when he was still with the Bruins.</li>
</ul>
<h1>LINEUPS…</h1>
<h3><a href="https://oilersnation.com/combinations"><strong>Oilers</strong></a></h3>
RNH - McDavid - Hyman
Skinner - Draisaitl - Arvidsson
Janmark - Henrique - Brown
Podkolzin - Ryan - Perry

Ekholm - Bouchard
Nurse - Dermott
Kulak - Emberson

Pickard

<a href="https://publish.oilersnation.com/2024/10/12/edmonton-oilers-shake-up-defensive-pairings-calvin-pickard-gets-first-start-of-the-season-against-the-blackhawks/">Kris Knoblauch is changing up his defensive pairings</a> for game two after the defensive coverage against the Jets was anything but sound. Ty Emberson really struggled in the opener, and hopefully, saddling him with Brett Kulak will be the key to calming his game down a bit. The other change of note is that Calvin Pickard will get the start on Saturday, meaning Stuart Skinner will be tasked with stopping the Flames on Sunday.
<h3><strong>Blackhawks</strong></h3>
Mikheyev - Bedard - Teravainen
Hall - Kurashev - Bertuzzi
Foligno - Dickinson - Anderson
Maroon - Donato - Smith

Martinez - Jones
Vlasic - Brodie
Allan - Murphy

Mrazek

The Blackhawks fell 2-1 in overtime to the Jets on Friday night in Winnipeg, but the real story of that game was how Chicago kept Winnipeg off the board for nearly 60 minutes. Despite being a younger team with very few expectations on them, the Blackhawks gave the Jets everything they could handle, which is a far cry from what we got with the same matchup two days ago. I guess the point I'm getting at here is that the Oilers had better be ready to go or risk the Blackhawks coming into their barn and stealing their lunch money.
<h1>TONIGHT…</h1>
[caption id="attachment_162116" align="aligncenter" width="805"]<a href="https://t.co/lEwdTvE2QI"><img class=" wp-image-162116" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/GDB-Edmonton-Oilers-Chicago-Blackhawks-Stuart-Skinner-1024x819.jpg" alt="Edmonton Oilers Stuart Skinner photoshop" width="805" height="644" /></a> <a href="https://t.co/lEwdTvE2QI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Photoshop: Tom Kostiuk</a>[/caption]

<strong>Game Day Prediction:</strong> The Oilers handle their business in front of a cautiously optimistic hometown crowd, securing a convincing 6-1 win.

<strong>Obvious Game Day Prediction:</strong> Connor McDavid finds Leon Draisaitl in his office in the right circle for a classic Oilers PP goal.

<strong>Not-So-Obvious Game Day Prediction:</strong> Ty Emberson picks up his first goal as an Oiler with a seeing-eye wrister from the point, rebounding nicely from the tough night he had in <a href="https://publish.oilersnation.com/2024/10/10/oilers-got-stomped-6-0-by-the-jets-prompting-half-of-the-rogers-place-crowd-to-leave-early/">the opener</a>.
<h2><strong>ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365</strong></h2>
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