The Edmonton Oilers return to Rogers Place after a four-game road trip which saw them go 3-1-0. They’ll host the New Jersey Devils for their lone visit to Edmonton this season.

1. The Devils started the season in the spotlight over in Europe with a pair of wins against the Buffalo Sabres. They returned home to win two of their next three but have struggled to gain much consistency since. They’re fourth in the Metropolitan Division with a 7-5-2 record. However, they’ve only won three of their last nine games since that hot start. Tonight will end a three-game Western Canada road trip for them, in which they beat the Vancouver Canucks 6-0 and lost 3-0 to the Calgary Flames.

2. While the overall play has been inconsistent from the Devils, Nico Hischier has had a great start to the season. He’s tied for first in the NHL with ten goals and has a point in all but four games. Hischier is on pace for an 88-point season, which would surpass the career-high of 80 that he set in the 2022-23 season.

3. The Devils haven’t confirmed a goaltender for tonight’s game, but it’ll likely be Jacob Markstrom. Markstrom, formerly of the Flames and Canucks, has faced the Oilers 34 times, which is significantly more than any other team he’s gone up against. The Swedish netminder has a 0.899 save percentage against Edmonton along with a 2.99 goals-against average and one shutout.

4. The Oilers and Devils met twice last season, and Edmonton came away from those matchups with maximum points. The two contests were within weeks of each other last December, with Edmonton winning the first at Rogers Place 4-1 and then 6-3 in New Jersey. Calvin Pickard got the start in both games and, in that 4-1 win, collected his first NHL win in almost two years. He had a combined 0.924 save percentage over those two games.

5. Pickard has played the Devils five times over his career and hasn’t lost to them yet. He has a 0.944 save percentage, a 1.44 goals-against average and a shutout. Pickard likely gets the start tonight after Stuart Skinner took the crease last night in Calgary. Since his poor start against the Chicago Blackhawks in the opening week of the season, Pickard has a 0.938 save percentage.

6. Connor McDavid is still absent from the lineup but there was good news today from Bob Stauffer. Stauffer posted that the Oilers captain was skating at Rogers Place for an optional skate. There was also news over the weekend from head coach Kris Knoblauch that McDavid may return sooner than expected. The Oilers play in McDavid’s hometown of Toronto against the Maple Leafs on Saturday, November 16th.

7. Without McDavid in the lineup, Edmonton has managed back-to-back wins for the third time this season. The first came on Halloween when Leon Draisaitl continued his dominance over the Nashville Predators with a two-goal and one-assist performance at Bridgestone Arena. Then, last night in Calgary, Zach Hyman scored the game-winner on the power play in the third period to give the Oilers a 4-2 win over the Flames, their southern provincial rivals. Stuart Skinner got the start in Calgary and finished with a 0.935 save percentage and made many big saves in the second period to keep the Flames out.

8. Noah Philp, the Canmore native, played in his second NHL game last night but saw his ice time drop from 11:40 to 8:46. The most notable stat from his first game, minus his assist on Corey Perry’s goal, was his face-off percentage. Against Nashville, Phlip won 10 of 14 faceoffs for a rate of 71.4%; however, that number was much lower against the Flames winning only 1 of 8 draws. He was trusted slightly on the penalty kill playing one shift for 34 seconds.

9. It’ll be an Adam Henrique revenge game night too. Henrique was drafted by the New Jersey Devils 82nd overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. He played 455 games for the Devils scoring 257 points and went to the Stanley Cup in 2012, before getting traded to the Anaheim Ducks in 2017. Against the Devils, Henrique has played them 12 times scoring seven goals and ten points.

10. Draisaitl will look to continue his dominance without McDavid in the lineup and lead the Oilers to their third win in a row. Over his career, Draisaitl has done well against the Devils scoring 11 goals and 19 points in 17 games, which is the most he’s scored against an American Eastern Conference team. His linemate, Viktor Arvidsson, has found success against the Devils too with 9 points in 11 games against them. Furthermore, Derek Ryan, whose spot in the lineup is uncertain for tonight, has 10 points against New Jersey, which is tied for the most he’s scored against one team.

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