Is there anything better than a big divisional matchup between the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks to cap off your Saturday night? I didn’t think so, either. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s game day. Now, let’s get ourselves ready for what is another massive Pacific Division rivalry night on the schedule.
As much as it annoys me that the Oilers have been spotting their opponents multi-goal leads in the first period of the last couple of games, the good news is that the boys showed the resilience needed to crawl out of those holes and win the game anyway. Rather than folding their cards and waiting for better days, the Oilers dug in, got to work, and found a way to grind out two important wins. No, it’s not ideal to need a comeback to win games every night, but the most important part was that the boys collected two points.
Heading into Vancouver, the Oilers are up against a broken team that seems to be teetering on the edge of a cliff. One swift push could knock the Canucks into seller territory, and I would love nothing more than to see Edmonton contribute to their downfall. That said, we know Vancouver will be fired up to play, meaning the Oilers can’t have a third straight game where they come out flat. They simply cannot spot the Canucks an early lead even if they have the talent and recent history that suggests they can come back — they will start getting burned by these slow starts eventually.
My thinking is that the Oilers could do a world of good for themselves if they can put the Canucks back on their heels. At this point, Vancouver rocks a 2-5-3 record in their last 10 games, and the last thing we need is to be the team that helps them get off the mat. We talk about flexing a killer instinct a lot around here, but that’s not just for when the boys are leading late in games. That mentality is also for situations like this, where the Oilers are facing a struggling team that’s fighting for their lives just to stay afloat. Instead of being a lifeline, they need to be the ones that push Vancouver’s heads further under water.
The Canucks have just one win in their past seven games and only two victories in their past 10 contests, including two blowout losses to the Jets and Kings. Needless to say, things are not going well in Vancouver, and I would love nothing more than to see the Oilers keep both streaks going. While I almost feel bad about what’s going on over there, I remember how the Canucks fanbase can be so unhinged that it makes me feel like they deserve it somehow. Is that mature of me? No. But does their unhappiness ultimately make me happy? Yes. Here’s hoping the Oilers can give us all another dose of happiness to close out our Saturday night.
Let’s see what the numbers say…

THE NUMBERS

OILERS
CANUCKS
RECORD
29-13-3
19-15-10
WIN/LOSS STREAK
W4
L2
LAST 10 GAMES
8-2-0
2-5-3
GOALS FOR
149
126
GOALS AGAINST
123
141
POWER PLAY%
24.1
21.0
PENALTY KILL%
76.2
80.8
AVG. SHOTS/FOR
32.2
25.1
AVG. SHOTS/AGAINST
26.4
27.2
TEAM SAVE%
.911
.904
CORSI FOR%
54.09
49.10
PDO
0.995
1.001
TEAM SHOOTING%
8.33
9.72
EXPECTED GOALS FOR%
55.07
50.02
Numbers courtesy of Natural Stat Trick (Sv%, CF%, PDO, Shooting%, xGF% all at 5×5)
  • Saturday’s contest marks the second of three meetings between the Oilers and Canucks. The Oilers took the first game of the by a 7-3 score at Rogers Arena back on November 9th on the back of a three-point night from Connor McDavid (1G, 2A), a three-assist night from Mattias Janmark, and two-goal outing from Connor Brown. The season series wraps up five days from now at Rogers Place in on January 23rd.
  • The Edmonton Oilers are 8-1-0 in their last nine games played and have a record of 23-6-2 since November 9th, which is good for the top spot in the NHL over that span. They are also 19-4-1 over their last 24 games, which is just a ridiculous heater.
  • Evan Bouchard’s 11th career game winning goal over the Avalanche tied him with Kevin Lowe, Anson Carter, and Mike Grier for the 30th most in Oilers franchise history.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Oilers ***UPDATED***

RNH – McDavid – Hyman
Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Arvidsson
Janmark – Henrique – Brown
Philp – Perry
Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Stecher
Kulak – Emberson
Brown
Skinner
What I want most from the Oilers today is that they have a decent start to the hockey game. As much as it was fun for the Oilers to come back from being two and three goals down against the Wild and Avalanche, respectively, it’s probably not the best strategy going forward. Yes, this team can come back against anybody, but let’s not make a habit of it, yeah? Playing with the lead and blowing out your opponent can be just as fun, and I’m hopeful that’s the message leading into this game.
When it comes to the line combinations, it looks like Kris Knoblauch is going back to some tried and tested lines for him, restoring the second line of Vasily Podkolzin, Leon Draisaitl, and Viktor Arvidsson. It’s good to see Viktor Arvidsson will be playing after he looked a bit hobbled at the end of Thursday’s game against the Avalanche. Arvidsson blocked a shot late in the game, and you could tell it was bothering him as he tried to skate back up ice. Happy to see it was just a stringer.
UPDATE: Per Oilers’ Tony Brar, the team will be going 11/7 in Vancouver. Brown is in against the Canucks. 

Canucks

DeBrusk – Pettersson – Lekkerimäki
Di Giuseppe – Miller – Boeser
Heinen – Suter – Garland
Hoglander – Blueger – Sherwood
Hughes – Hronek
Soucy – Myers
Forbort – Desharnais
Demko
According to Canucksarmy’s Jeff Paterson, the Canucks are rolling with the same line combos as the last couple of games despite getting completely stomped by Winnipeg and Los Angeles. Typically, coaches tend to switch things up when that happens, but Rick Tocchet clearly feels that his group needs to work it out. With no help coming, it’s up to the players in the room to do what’s needed to right the ship.
“It’s us against everybody,” said Jake DeBrusk when asked about Vancouver’s struggles. “It’s as simple as that. There’s a lot of noise coming our way, and rightfully so. That’s what happens when you don’t perform and produce. This league is tough. It doesn’t really give you much confidence and it will take it away as fast as possible. I don’t necessarily think it’s a one game win fix, we need to keep building and strive toward the standard that’s been here.”

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING…

From Canucksarmy.com:
Rick Tocchet on trying to keep the confidence of his group high: “Well, it’s my job to get these guys out of the funk. You can’t play this game when you have the ol’ victim card or ‘poor is me’. You can’t play this game that way. There’s obviously accountability, but you have to come in the next day with a lot of energy. That’s the only way you can play this game.”
Rick Tocchet on the mistakes that are killing Canucks right now: “We’re just making illogical mistakes these days. We have to kind of tilt it in our favour. Be smarter. If you’ve been out there for 30 seconds, I’m not sure you want to do an east-west pass. Especially tomorrow. If McDavid is on the ice, you’ve got to be crazy if you want to make a high risk play when he’s on the ice. Those are the things we talked about (today): logic and know your role.”

TONIGHT…

GDB Evan Bouchard Edmonton Oilers Fishing Photoshop
Photoshop by Tom Kostiuk from Handmade by Tom
Game Day Prediction: The Oilers put up another touchdown in Vancouver, and cruise to a 7-3 building-emptying win.
Obvious Game Day Prediction: Connor McDavid makes it four games in a row with a goal. Our captain is heating up, and wants the hockey world to know that he can still fill the net.
Not-So-Obvious Game Day Prediction: Finally, Mattias Janmark scores on a goalie.

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