The Kings have won the Stanley Cup twice in the past three seasons. They have become one of the dominant franchises in the NHL, and last season the gap between the Oilers and the Kings was as large as the Grand Canyon.
The Kings outscored the Oilers 11-3 in four games, but they out shot them 186-86. The Kings fired 48, 40, 50 and 48 shots while the Oilers countered with 18, 24, 27 and 17. The Oilers did manage a SO loss point in the first meeting when Richard Bachman stood on his head, but every game clearly illustrated the chasm between the Oilers and a Cup contending team.
Tonight will be our first opportunity to see how much closer, if any, the 2014/2015 Oilers are to competing with the elite in the western conference.
The Oilers have had two days rest to prepare for the Kings. Fatigue cannot be an excuse, but injuries and a complete head scratching coach move might. (more on that later) The Oilers are winless through two games, and the biggest concern has to be that they’ve allowed nine goals in two games.
The Oilers have to lower their goals against if they have any hopes of battling for a playoff spot. This is not new to anyone, but much of the focus continues to be around the lack of centre depth. There is no arguing that is a concern, but the Oilers inability to keep the puck out of their net is the bigger problem.
Leon Draisaitl and Mark Arcobello haven’t made egregious errors that have led to goals. Arcobello was on the ice for the first two Vancouver goals at ES, but Sedin’s shot from the side boards should have been stopped, and Nick Bonino’s goal was a deflection from the high slot.
The Oilers have allowed nine goals to teams who were 23rd and 28th in total goals last year. I realize the Canucks have changed their coach and have a new system in place, but the Flames are far from an offensive juggernaut. The Oilers must improve in the D-zone to compete for a playoff spot.

LINEUP

Hall-Arcobello-Purcell
Pouliot-Draisaitl-Yakupov
Perron-Yakimov-Joensuu
Hendricks-Gordon-Acton
Nugent-Hopkins and Eberle are injured. Both are ailing after being on the receiving end of some big hits in Vancouver on Saturday. Eakins said RNH did not get injured in his fight with Dan Hamhuis. This is the nightmare Oilers fans were worried about. RNH gets hurt and their top-three centres tonight have a combined 46 games of NHL experience. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, and even though everyone wrote, talked and discussed this possibility all summer Craig MacTavish elected to not bring in any centres with NHL experience. The Oilers management has no one to blame but themselves.
Nikitin-Fayne
Ference-Nurse
Hunt-Schultz
In one of the most bizarre moves I can recall, Eakins elected to bench Petry because, “he is a bit behind from not having a training camp.” Even if that was the case, why wouldn’t you rest him tomorrow night instead. It is truly a baffling decision. If “not up to speed” means he is still not 100% from his training camp injury, then I ask why was he in the lineup for the first two games? They had Klefbom and Nurse, there was zero reason to rush him. Petry being a healthy scratch makes no sense to me. None. 
Fasth
Fasth played well in Vancouver and it makes sense to play him tonight and go with Scrivens tomorrow.
FIGHTING STATS…
I’m not here to debate the merits of fighting. You either like it or you don’t. I believe it has a place in the game, and I didn’t have an issue with Nugent-Hopkins fighting Dan Hamhuis. I don’t think anyone expects him to do that regularly, and he won’t, but he felt it was necessary to not back down from Hamhuis. I respect that.
Some don’t want him fighting due to the risk of injury. If you don’t want him fighting, that is fine, but the risk of injury in a fight is actually very low. Considering how much emphasis has been put on statistics lately, let’s look at the probability of an injury occurring during a fight.
Most of you have witnessed an Oiler getting hurt in a fight during this painful eight-year losing streak. Ethan Moreau’s shoulder popped out in a fight with Danny Markov. They were given roughing minors, because they never landed a punch due to Moreau’s injury.
Sheldon Souray broke his hand in a fight with Jarome Iginla. Steve MacIntyre broke an orbital bone, Theo Peckham was concussed, Zach Stortini hyper extended his knee, Ben Eager was concussed, Ladislav Smid was concussed when Sean Avery jumped him and Taylor Hall injured his knee.
That is eight injuries (If I forgot one or two the % will change very little). The Oilers have had 354 fights since the beginning of the 2006/2007 season. Over the past eight seasons the injury rate is 2.3% of the time (Moreau didn’t receive a fighting major, but I gave him one since the injury occurred while preparing to fight, so it was 8 out of 355). You can say you don’t want fighting in the game, but suggesting that injuries occur often due to a fight is simply false.
The Oilers are also a team that has fought more than most over the past eight seasons. I compiled these stats courtesy of Hockeyfights.com and found out that the Oilers have had the 8th most fights during the past eight seasons.
Team
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Total
1
Philadelphia Flyers
40
63
74
77
47
57
33
45
436
2
St. Louis Blues
42
53
62
72
78
42
21
32
402
3
Boston Bruins
29
52
46
47
71
61
32
46
384
4
Columbus Blue Jackets
39
58
53
49
54
57
34
39
383
5
Calgary Flames
36
70
61
74
35
35
22
32
365
6
New York Rangers
35
47
58
52
62
65
18
25
362
7
Vancouver Canucks
27
68
62
62
29
38
28
43
357
8
Edmonton Oilers
46
49
69
59
55
27
13
36
354
9
Toronto Maple Leafs
24
25
52
57
50
35
44
48
335
10
Anaheim Ducks
71
69
82
78
67
44
23
40
334
11
Pittsburgh Penguins
33
48
39
48
71
31
22
27
319
12
Dallas Stars
36
52
45
50
51
28
26
25
313
13
Colorado Avalanche
21
48
48
60
43
36
22
30
308
14
San Jose Sharks
34
42
42
57
48
35
18
31
307
15
Ottawa Senators
26
33
32
51
46
53
26
39
306
16
Tampa Bay Lightning
33
38
52
73
20
23
31
30
300
17
Chicago Blackhawks
40
57
54
36
28
41
16
16
288
18
New York Islanders
18
29
52
33
68
27
18
39
284
19
New Jersey Devils
32
46
57
45
37
39
16
10
282
20
Los Angeles Kings
42
22
48
37
49
33
19
27
277
21
Winnipeg Jets
24
30
53
40
33
35
26
33
274
22
Buffalo Sabres
37
26
37
26
30
40
25
36
257
23
Florida Panthers
29
38
34
50
24
31
20
30
256
24
Minnesota Wild
14
46
38
32
32
42
24
27
255
25
Montreal Canadiens
17
32
45
32
32
28
25
41
252
26
Washington Capitals
40
33
28
20
45
26
16
36
244
27
Nashville Predators
40
37
42
23
18
19
21
37
237
28
Carolina Hurricanes
25
44
26
34
25
19
23
8
204
29
Arizona Coyotes
47
40
56
30
23
27
16
18
170
30
Detroit Red Wings
10
21
11
19
13
15
14
7
110
Some of the best teams in the league fight often, while teams like Detroit and Montreal don’t. Teams can be successful with no fighters just as much as they can having a team of guys who like to fight, as long as both teams have good players.
One of the usual arguments for those opposed to fighting is that the Red Wings don’t fight and they win. That is true, but the Bruins, Ducks, Penguins, Rangers and Canucks have racked up a lot of wins while also dropping the gloves at a high rate.
Here is a quick look at each team’s point totals over the past eight seasons combined with their frequency of fights.
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
Total Pts
Fight Rank
SJ
111
57
96
105
113
117
108
107
814
14th
PIT
109
72
108
106
101
99
102
105
802
11th
DET
93
56
102
104
102
112
115
113
797
30th
VAN
83
59
111
117
103
100
88
105
766
7th
BOS
117
62
102
103
91
116
94
76
761
3rd
CHI
107
77
101
97
112
104
88
71
757
17th
ANA
116
66
80
99
89
91
102
110
753
10th
WSH
90
57
92
107
121
108
94
70
739
26th
NJD
88
48
102
81
103
106
99
107
734
19th
NYR
96
56
109
97
87
95
97
94
727
6th
NSH
88
41
104
99
100
88
91
110
721
27th
MTL
100
63
78
96
88
93
104
90
712
25th
STL
111
60
109
87
90
92
79
81
709
2nd
DAL
91
48
89
95
88
83
97
107
698
12th
MIN
98
55
81
86
84
89
98
104
695
24th
PHI
94
49
103
106
88
99
95
56
690
1st
OTT
88
56
92
74
94
83
94
105
686
15th
CGY
77
42
90
94
90
98
94
96
681
5th
BUF
52
48
89
96
100
91
90
113
679
22nd
ARI
89
51
97
99
107
79
83
67
672
29th
LAK
100
59
95
98
101
79
71
68
671
20th
COL
112
39
88
68
95
69
95
95
661
13th
CAR
83
42
82
91
80
97
92
88
655
28th
TBL
101
40
84
103
80
66
71
93
638
16th
TOR
84
57
80
85
74
81
83
91
635
9th
WPG
84
51
84
80
83
76
76
97
631
21st
CBJ
93
55
65
81
79
92
80
73
618
4th
FLA
66
36
94
72
77
93
85
86
609
23rd
NYI
79
55
79
73
79
61
79
92
597
18th
EDM
67
45
74
62
62
85
88
71
554
8th
Teams that fought regularly like Vancouver, Boston, Anaheim, Pittsburgh and NYR won just as often as teams like Detroit, Chicago or Washington. A few other things stood out.
  • This illustrates how far the Oilers need to go to improve. It is daunting, but it is the truth.
  • San Jose is the best regular season team in the NHL, and while they’ve yet to win a Stanley Cup, or even make the final, I’m sure many fanbases would change places with Sharks’ fans in an instant.
  • I’m pretty sure Nick Lidstrom’s absence has been a bigger factor in Detroit’s recent drop in points than their decision not to dress many pugilists.
To me the above charts illustrate that you can either build your team by having skilled players who don’t fight, or with a rugged, skilled team that doesn’t mind dropping the mitts and you can have success both ways. Their is no perfect formula. You just need to build a team that fits with your philosophy.
Right now the Oilers are still trying to figure out what style they want to play, and what type of team they want to build. It shouldn’t have taken this long, but that is another story. For me, if Nugent-Hopkins wants to fight once a year because he is mad, I’m okay with that. I never criticized him when he didn’t fight, so I surely won’t rip him for fighting. 
Other teams have constantly taken liberties with the Oilers, and I’ve always believed you have to stand up for yourself if you want that harassment to stop. In the NHL, you have to let the opposition you are willing to stand your ground. It doesn’t always have to be with a fight, but once in awhile it is the only option. Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Joe Thornton, Ryan Getzlaf and many other stars will fight now and then. Not because they have to, but because they choose to. 
I respect Nugent-Hopkins for feeling that was the right time to defend himself.
If you need a chuckle Oilers fans check out what the Royal Half is saying about tonight’s Kings/Oilers tilt. Keep your chin up Oilers fans.

TONIGHT…

GAME DAY PREDICTION: Life is full of challenges. Some are harder than others, and tonight is one of those games for the Oilers. Like our beloved tryout attendee #13, they will give it their best, but come up short. Oilers lose 4-2.
OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: The Nation will be fired up over Petry being a healthy scratch.
NOT-SO-OBVOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Darnell Nurse scores in his first NHL game. The Oilers always find a way to keep the diehard fan believing that the future will indeed be brighter.
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