The Edmonton Oilers have the best Point% in the NHL the past month, going 9-3 and outscoring teams 52-30. You will notice 20% of their goals against occurred in Monday’s 6-5 loss to Florida. It was an off night in an otherwise excellent month of hockey. Even with that leaky defensive effort, the Oilers still rank fourth in goals against/GP at 2.50 over the past month while scoring the second most goals at 4.33/game.
Teams occasionally have unproductive games during the regular season, but good teams often avoid letting that shoddy play carry over into the next game. Edmonton needs to take that approach tonight.
The Oilers started this season with three consecutive sloppy efforts. The pain of losing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final was a factor, and we can’t ignore the human element of the game. Historically, teams that lose the Stanley Cup Final have a sluggish first 10 games. The Oilers couldn’t avoid it. It makes sense, but they don’t have the same pain clouding their minds right now. In fact, they have lots of positive evidence to draw on from that past month to know that Monday’s game wasn’t acceptable, and they have the skill and commitment to avoid stretching that into two games.
They allowed two goals or less in seven of their last nine games while scoring four or more goals nine times. They had a dominant previous 30 days and tonight they face a Boston team who has played better since their coaching change.
On the season the Bruins are tied with Anaheim for 26th in goal for differential at -18, however, despite that ugly number they’ve still won slightly more than half their games going 17-13-3. They started 8-9-3 and fired head coach Jim Montgomery. Under interim head coach Joe Sacco, the Bruins are 9-4 and outscored teams 38-35. Two one-sided losses to Winnipeg (8-1) and Seattle (5-1) make their GF-GA much closer than it should be when you win nine of 13 games. They lost those games consecutively, and that is an excellent example of allowing bad efforts to compound game to game. It can happen quite easily, and the Oilers need to avoid that tonight.
SNAPSHOTS…
—- David Pastrnak isn’t scoring goals at the rate he’d like, but he does have 16 points (four goals) in 13 games under Sacco. He scored the OT winner in Calgary, on a perfect shot, and he’s now scored a goal in three of their last four games. He’s on pace for 29 goals which would be his lowest total (excluding shortened 2021 season) since he was a sophomore in 2016. Pastrnak has the fourth most goals (335) in the NHL since 2017 trailing only Auston Matthews (378), Leon Draisaitl (349) and Alex Ovechkin (343). He has two more goals than Connor McDavid. Pastrnak is an elite goal scorer, and it looks like he’s starting to heat up.
— You could the argument Kris Knoblauch should play Leon Draisaitl’s line and Darnell Nurse against Pastrnak’s line. Over the past month when Draisaitl and Nurse are on the ice together the Oilers have outscored opponents 5-0. It is 3-0 with Troy Stecher as Nurse’s partner and 2-0 with Brett Kulak. However, I expect we will see Nurse and the Evan Bouchard/Mattias Ekholm pairing split time against Pastrnak. The Oilers top pair hasn’t played up to their standards lately. They had a really rough game on Monday, but top players want the challenge of playing the best and I don’t think we see Knoblauch or Paul Coffey shy away from that tonight. They can use the matchup as a challenge to that pair, as well as a sign they still have complete trust in them. They are a very good pair, who are capable of playing better.
— Viktor Arvidsson will play his first game since November 12th. Knoblauch mentioned he will monitor his minutes as they play three games in four nights and they will start him on the third line. I won’t be surprised to see him get some time with Leon Draisaitl soon. Arvidsson said he tried to play through his injury for a few weeks, but eventually shut it down and then it lingered. He wouldn’t confirm the injury, but I was told from a source it was his hip.
— The Oilers are 10-4-2 v. Boston in the McDavid/Draisaitl era, however, they are 0-2-2 in their last four meetings in Edmonton and lost all four games by one goal by scores of 6-5 (OT), 3-2, 3-2 and 2-1 (OT). Edmonton hasn’t won a home game v. the Bruins since October 18th, 2018. The Oilers also haven’t lost a game in Boston since October 11th, 2018. They’ve won their last four road meetings.
— Mattias Janmark will start as the fourth line centre tonight, but it is unlikely he will take many defensive zone draws. Knoblauch said he expects Janmark to play in different spots tonight. With Arvidsson returning as well, look for a few different line combinations throughout the game.
LINEUPS…
Oilers
RNH – McDavid – Hyman
Podkolzin – Draisaitl– Kapanen
Arvidsson – Henrique – Brown
J. Skinner – Janmark – Perry
Podkolzin – Draisaitl– Kapanen
Arvidsson – Henrique – Brown
J. Skinner – Janmark – Perry
Nurse – Stecher
Ekholm – Bouchard
Kulak – Emberson
Ekholm – Bouchard
Kulak – Emberson
Skinner
Derek Ryan will be the healthy scratch tonight. For those asking about Alec Regula. He doesn’t count on the roster as he is still on IR and wasn’t on the NHL roster last season. Usually you can’t send a player to the minors when they are injured, but Regula agreed to it, because he played last season in Providence and was planning to continue his rehab there. Then the Oilers claimed him, so he is still rehabbing here. There is no timeline for when he will be ready to play.
Bruins…
Geekie – Zacha – Pastrnak
Marchand – Lindholm – Brazeau
Frederic – Coyle – Wahlstrom
Kastelic– Beecher – McLaughlin
Marchand – Lindholm – Brazeau
Frederic – Coyle – Wahlstrom
Kastelic– Beecher – McLaughlin
Zadorov – McAvoy
Oesterle – Carlo
Lohrei – Peeke
Oesterle – Carlo
Lohrei – Peeke
Swayman
Oliver Wahlstrom will make his Bruins debut after being claimed off waivers from the Islanders earlier this week. The home town kid is very excited to be playing for Boston, “I don’t know if it’s sunk in yet. It’s a dream come true to be back home where my family and friends live.” he said. Wahlstrom was taken one pick after Evan Bouchard in the 2018 draft.
Hampus Lindholm has yet to play under Sacco. He was injured the same night as Arvidsson (November 12th) and has missed the last 16 games. He was averaging just under 21 minutes/game, and in his absence former Oiler, Jordan Oesterle, has taken most of his minutes. Oesterle was in the minors when Lindholm was injured. He was recalled immediately and in his first three games he averaged just over 17 minutes per game, but he got banged up and missed five games. Since returning, he’s been in their top four averaging 18:54/game. Nikita Zadorov has averaged and extra 1:30 game since Lindholm went down and Mason Lohrei has jumped up 1:46/game.
It is great seeing Oesterle carve out a solid career as a depth defender. Tonight, will be his 383rd NHL game, but Boston is the best regular season team he’s ever played on after stops in Edmonton, Chicago, Arizona, Detroit and Calgary, and earning the trust of the coaches to play this much has been very rewarding.
MONTH OF GIVING….
Thanks to Njib for his great bid on the fabulous Culligan water filtration system.
DAY 14: 🎁 Package #1: The Canadian Brewhouse Clubhouse Package
- Located in South Edmonton – Address to be given to winner courtesy of The Canadian Brewhouse
- Amenities: Full gymnasium with volleyball, basketball, hockey, soccer, tennis ball machine, Rock Climbing wall, two bowling lanes, three TVs and Arcade Games.
- $1,000 food/beverage credit
- Can use for a staff party, a team building experience, birthday party or even stag or stagette.
- Winner will need to book one month in advance
- Not available to the public for rental.
All money raised will go to The Christmas Bureau.
Package #2: Wine and Fireplace
- You and up to nine friends will sip, savour and become wine savvy after a night of sampling different wines including bubbles, white, rose and red, covering old world and new world and a variety of varietals!
- This will be a fun a fun-filled, educational evening hosted by wine aficionado Leila Zuniga of Collectio Wine & Spirits. She will come to your home.
- And a $1000 gift card from Wood and Energy Store. Wood & Energy Store – Your Fireplace Store in Edmonton. They have a great selection of Gas, Wood or Electric fireplaces.
You can bid via text between 2-6 p.m. on Sports 1440 by texting 833.401.1440 (can call same number) and include your name and donation amount. Money raised will support The Christmas Bureau and Gregor’s Grads.
TONIGHT…
GAME DAY PREDICTION: The Oilers tighten up defensively and end their home losing drought v. the Bruins with a 3-2 victory. (PS, I loathe picking low scoring games).
OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Leon Draisaitl continues to roll and scores his 24th of the season.
NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: The Bubble Boy, Zach Hyman, continues to roll despite playing with a broken nose. He scores his 8th goal in the last seven games. After scoring, Baggedmilk starts chanting… Moops, Moops, Moops. **Seinfeld reference IYKYK.**
