Hours ahead of the Oilers hosting the New York Rangers, the home team took to the ice at Rogers Place for a pre-game skate as Old Man Winter pummelled the City of Edmonton.
There were some notable omissions and changes to the group Oilers lineup, though. Defenceman Evan Bouchard wasn’t at the morning skate, with head coach Kris Knoblauch saying he was “50/50” to play tonight due to an illness, according to Sportsnet’s Gene Principe.
It left the Oilers pairings in limbo, but they will get a man back as Darnell Nurse is slated to return to action. The five other Oilers available were Mattias Ekholm, Brett Kulak, Ty Emberson, Troy Stecher and Travis Dermott.
Up front, the Oilers had Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl centring separate lines, with the captain flanked by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and newcomer Kasperi Kapanen, who was claimed on waivers earlier this week. Draisaitl, meanwhile, had Vasily Podkolzin and Connor Brown on his wings.
Adam Henrique centred Jeff Skinner and Mattias Janmark on the third line, while the fourth stayed the same, with Derek Ryan, Drake Caggiula and Corey Perry. Stuart Skinner gets the start.
  1. The Oilers have handled the Rangers well in recent years. Dating back to 2018-19 they’ve gone 7-2-1, outscoring them 35-31 in some high-scoring affairs. Edmonton’s last five haven’t been so smooth, going 2-2-1. In their two meetings last year, the road teams won both games, with the Rangers beating the Oilers 3-0 in Edmonton, with Jonathan Quick — slated to start tonight — turning aside all 29 shots he faced. Edmonton’s road win saw them score four goals in the first 10 minutes en route to a 4-3 win, also against Quick.
  2. Brett Kulak has been a bright spot this season for the Oilers blueline, scoring at a higher rate than he’s ever to start a season. His fourth goal of the year came on Nov. 9 against the Canucks, which saw him surpass his season-high from each of the last two years. In fact, there have only been two seasons in which he has scored more than four goals.
  3. Hockey Viz has his contributions on the ice at an all-time high, driving offence at a four percent rate above league average, defence at an eight percent rate above league average, and penalty kill work at a four percent rate above league average. These contributions have him playing above the rate of a high-end first pairing defenceman, which has been a significant development for the team.
  4. Zach Hyman’s injury will keep him out of the lineup tonight, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time. In his last 10 games he had racked up three goals and seven points, after notching just one assist in his first 10 of the season. With the Oilers not playing again until next Friday, he’ll have ample time to get healthy and recharged.
  5. Kasperi Kapanen will be elevated to the Oilers top line alongside McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins, playing in Hyman’s spot. He debuted with the team Thursday against the Minnesota Wild, taking one shot on goal and laying four hits in 12:10 of ice-time. Skating alongside Jeff Skinner and Nugent-Hopkins, the Oilers controlled the pace of play well, despite being outscored 1-0.
  6. The Rangers roll into town capping off a four-game road trip on the west coast. It kicked off a week ago Sunday with a 2-0 win over the Seattle Kraken, before beating the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 on Tuesday. Thursday night saw them three hours south on the QE2, falling to the Calgary Flames 3-2.
  7. They’ve dominated defensively in wins this season, allowing two or fewer goals against in 11 of their 12 wins, ranking fifth in goals against per game in the entire league this year. When they’ve lost, they’ve lost big, outscored 29-15 in those six games, averaging 4.8 goals against.
  8. It’s all led to some concern in The Big Apple, with Daily Faceoff’s Johnny Lazarus, who covers the Rangers, saying on Friday’s edition of Oilersnation Everyday that he sees them as a team primed for a first-round exit, despite their 12-5-1 start:
“To me, right now, they’re a first round exit if I’m speaking open an honestly. But it seems like there are a lot of similarities with the vibe check of the Oilers. You guys got to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last year — it’s a really long season with a lot of hope and great moments — and it’s hard to kind of flip that switch for 82 game when everyone just wants to get back to the playoffs… We’re talking about games 16, 17, and 18 of the regular season where the Rangers have something to prove, and that shouldn’t be the case for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations… Right now for the Rangers, while they have a lot of elite talent offensively, defensively they look like a disaster and goaltending has bailed them out in many games. It’s been a little bit of a disappointing start to the season, and the word I would use is uninspiring.”
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist, making up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.

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