The Edmonton Oilers are heading into the final weekend before Christmas with a couple of games left on their schedule. First up is a matinee game against San Jose, whom they haven’t faced yet this season. Early last year, the Oilers lost to the Sharks, which was the beginning of the end for former head coach Jay Woodcroft. This time around, Edmonton is a much better team. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of this afternoon’s matchup.

1. We all know now that the San Jose Sharks aren’t the team that ruled the Western Conference for all those years. Instead, they’re a young upcoming team led by rookie sensation Macklin Celebrini. He’s only 23 games into his promising career, but Celebrini has gotten off to a great start with 11 goals in 22 points. He’s on pace for 33 goals and 66 points, similar to the rookie seasons of Auston Matthews, Connor Bedard and Nathan MacKinnon. In his first season, Connor McDavid finished with a 1.06 points per game average, just ahead of Celebrini’s 0.95 P/G. With that, it’s safe to say the Sharks have a future superstar in their organization.

2. The Sharks are last in the Pacific Division, but they’re on track to finish significantly better than last season. They have an 11-19-5 record and are one point behind state rivals the Anaheim Ducks. If they maintain this pace over the remaining 47 games, they would win about 15 more games (26), which is seven more than last season.

3. Despite the clear improvements this season, San Jose is coming into Edmonton on a three-game losing streak. They led in all three games in the second period before eventually falling 4-3 to Utah and Winnipeg and then 4-2 to Colorado. In the third period, they were outscored 7-2, which proved to be the difference.

4. Today’s game is also Cody Ceci’s return to Rogers Place since getting traded for Ty Emberson over the summer. Things haven’t gone great for him, both defensive and offensively. Amongst all defencemen in the NHL, Ceci has been on the ice for the most shots against (347) and the 6th most goals against (33). His most consistent partner is Jake Walman, with whom he’s played for close to 400 minutes. However, despite spending so much time together, Walman’s numbers are drastically different from Ceci’s. Walman has been on the ice for 232 shots against, 115 fewer, and only 21 goals against. If Stan Bowman was looking to acquire a player from the Sharks, Walman should be the man.

4. The Sharks recently acquired Alexander Georgiev from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Mackenzie Blackwood. Georgiev was having a tough season, with the Avs posting a 0.874 save percentage and a 3.38 goals-against average. Those numbers have continued declining in his three games for San Jose. He’s averaging 3.75 goals against, and his save percentage is 0.869%, which is surprisingly not the worst in the NHL. Georgiev has got the last two starts for San Jose so there’s a chance Edmonton won’t face him today.

5. Things looked bleak for the Oilers after 20 minutes against the Boston Bruins on Thursday. Boston put two past Stuart Skinner in the opening frame, but he was able to bounce back and shut the door the remainder of the night. Skinner has been strong all season, falling a loss. He has a 7-1-1 record with a 0.923SV% along with a 1.77 GAA.

6. Connor McDavid has dominated the Sharks in 30 career games. The Oilers captain has 17 goals and 42 points over that stretch, the sixth high points tally against one team. Over the last four seasons, McDavid has 17 points in 11 games against them, which is the most by any Oiler.

7. Kris Knoblauch made changes to his defensive pairs at practice on Friday. Darnell Nurse was elevated to the top pair to play alongside Evan Bouchard, while Mattias Ekholm was slotted next to Ty Emberson on the second pair. Nurse and Bouchard have played 12:05 together this season at 5-on-5 and outshoot their opponent 10-3 but weren’t on the ice for a goal for or against. Last season, they spent more time together (82:15) and had similar shooting results but found themselves on the ice for five goals against and only four going the other way. Emberson and Ekholm have played just over 15 minutes together this season and have a 50% shots-for rate and, like the top pair, haven’t been on the ice for a goal for or against. Brett Kulak and Troy Stecher complete the top six.

8. The Sharks have had little to no success when they visited Rogers Place. You have to go back to February 2019 to find the last time they beat Edmonton on the road. Evander Kane was still playing for the Sharks and even scored that night in a 5-2 win. Kevin Labanc scored a hat trick and Tomas Hertl wrapped up the scoring in a 5-2 win for the Teal. Joe Thornton, Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski played for the Sharks that night too.

9. Edmonton just wrapped up the toughest part of their schedule with an overtime win against the Bruins on Thursday. Since December 1st, the Oilers have a 6-2-0 record and have the sixth best points percentage in the NHL. They’re averaging 4.13 goals for  (2nd most) while only giving up 2.38 (8th fewest) on average a night. The power play is clicking at a 36.8% rate (2nd), and the penalty kill is around league average at 81.3%. Leon Draisaitl is second in the league in points with 18 in the month, and Connor McDavid is down in seventh with 14 points. It’s safe to say the Oilers have taken a turn and are trending back up to the top.

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