The Edmonton Oilers have owned the Nashville Predators over the last few seasons, and the boys will be looking to sweep the season series and earn their first three-game win streak of the year.
1. Looking at the last 10 games for each side, the Oilers are sporting a 6-3-1 record while averaging 3.2 goals for, 5.4 assists, 2.7 penalties and 6.8 penalty minutes, while giving up 2.6 goals per game. Meanwhile, over the same stretch, the Predators have a 4-4-2 record and are scoring 2.5 goals per game, 3.7 assists, 4.8 penalties and 11.4 penalty minutes, while giving up 2.9 goals per game.
What’s most interesting to me about the Oilers scoring 2.6 goals per game over their last 10 is that the team is 8-0-0 in games they score at least three goals. Through the first two matchups of the season, Edmonton has outscored Nashville by a 9-3 margin, a favour the Preds would surely like to repay in their lone visit to Rogers Place this season.
2. Leon Draisaitl has 27 goals in 28 career games against the Predators. Let’s take a moment to let that absurd stat sink in. Are you with me? Can you feel it? Mmmmmmmm. Through the first two games against Nashville so far, Draisaitl has two goals and four points, continuing his dominance against a franchise that just cannot seem to figure him out.
3. With seven points (2G, 5A) in his last two games, Connor McDavid now sits at 999 career points and stands to become the fourth-fastest player to reach 1,000 points, behind only Wayne Gretzky (424 games), Mario Lemieux (513) and Mike Bossy (656). If he does get to 1,000 tonight in game 659 — and I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that he does — McDavid will have gotten the job done faster than some pretty incredible players like Peter Stastny (682), Jari Kurri (716), Sidney Crosby (757), Jaromir Jagr (763) and Oilers assistant coach Paul Coffey (770).
4. According to our own Jason Gregor, Calvin Pickard will get the nod against Nashville, marking his sixth start and seventh appearance of the season. Pickard was fantastic against Nashville in the Halloween game from a couple of weeks ago, stopping 27 of 28 shots, which was good for a .963 save percentage. Pickard also picked up the win over the Predators back on Oct. 17, wrapping up the night with a .926 save percentage after stopping 27 of 29 shots. Clearly, Kris Knoblauch must be thinking that our pal Cal has Nashville’s number. Are we up for a threepeat? My body is ready for it.
5. Digging into the special teams, it feels like the Oilers are starting to settle in just a little bit. On Tuesday night against the Islanders, the power play went 1-for-2 and looked good enough to score on both opportunities, while the penalty kill was perfect at 2-for-2 for the first time in a long time. You can absolutely point to the fact that the Islanders are an injury-riddled mess right now and that some of their best players weren’t even on the ice, but I’m choosing to look at the bright side this time around.
Coming into Thursday’s matchup, the Oilers still have plenty of work to do on special teams, as the power play sits in 22nd place at 17.5 per cent while the penalty kill remains dead last at 61.0 per cent. Yet, despite the lacklustre results through 16 games, both of those numbers are actually on the rise. Looking over at the other side, Nashville’s power play is currently tied for ninth at 22.2 per cent, one of the few areas they’re seeing success this season. Needless to say, the Oilers will have to be smart on the ice and avoid putting their struggling penalty kill up against a power-play unit that’s starting to find its stride. On the penalty kill, Nashville’s 90.9 per cent success rate is tops in the NHL, meaning the Oilers have a real challenge on their hands that they’ll need to be sharp to navigate.
6. Just over a week ago, Predators GM Barry Trotz made waves on social media when he said the team either had to figure it out or he would consider rebuilding, which seems bananas to think about after the off-season they had and how many key players were brought in. Trotz acknowledged the big swings he and the rest of the Predators staff took in the summer, signing vets Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, but things just haven’t worked out.
“What we did in the summer, as they say, is ‘fantasy hockey’ until we have a good team. If we don’t become a good team, then we’re going to see a lot more of our kids starting their process. We brought in veteran players this year to be a threat … and in the coming years our young guys will take an even bigger and bigger role. If there’s a position where we fall out and it’s not happening or doesn’t come together … we’re going to shake it up.”
Even though Filip Forsberg is reportedly healthy after the ankle issue he battled through last season and leads the team in scoring, Marchessault and Stamkos haven’t been the game-changers Trotz was expecting. Marchessault has just three goals and nine points in 16 games, while Stamkos has registered four goals and eight points over that same stretch.
7. Viktor Arvidsson didn’t practice Wednesday and has a 50/50 chance to play against the Predators, according to head coach Kris Knoblauch, who said the forward is battling an undisclosed injury. Knoblauch suggested the injury is nothing serious, but if the former Pred is unable to go, the team will use the 11/7 configuration for the first time this season.

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