The Edmonton Oilers host the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. The same Red Wings who are coming off a 4-3 win in Calgary. The same guys who played last night then travelled to Edmonton, only to play again tonight.

Sound familiar?

That’s because on Tuesday night, the Oilers faced Buffalo in the exact same situation. Except the Sabres had just lost 7-4 in Calgary the night before. Then they travelled to Edmonton, tired, depleted, and playing their second game in as many nights.

Buffalo won 4-3 in overtime.

“It’s not easy to win on the road,” Alex DeBrincat said after Detroit’s win in Calgary, before adding he hopes to “get another one tomorrow (in Edmonton).”

Another one. Like it’s expected. Like teams coming into Rogers Place exhausted from back-to-backs are supposed to just collect their two points and move on.

The Oilers know this grind intimately. They’ve been on the other end of it. They’ve endured the brutal early-season road trips, the time zone changes, the 2 AM hotel arrivals. They know how exhausting it is to play, travel, and play again the next night in a hostile building.

There’s no sympathy coming from the Edmonton locker room for Detroit’s situation. Why would there be? This is professional hockey. Everyone deals with the same schedule. Nobody’s handing out participation trophies for being tired.

But here’s the thing: if the Oilers know how brutal this situation is for their opponent, shouldn’t that make it easier to capitalize? Shouldn’t facing a team on the second night of a back-to-back after quick travel be an advantage?

Buffalo was supposed to be exhausted. They were supposed to be vulnerable. Instead, they jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Oilers came back and forced a loss in overtime.

“You’re at home,” began Adam Henrique at the Oilers’ optional morning skate on Thursday. “You want to win at home in front of your fans and in your building. So big one tonight for us to finish off the homestead.

“It’s, I guess, a 40-minute bounce back from last game, and trying to play a complete 60 minutes like we did in the third period.”

Detroit just played Calgary and won, but they gave up three goals in the third period and nearly blew a 4-0 lead. They’re banged up. Defenseman Simon Edvinsson didn’t finish the game with a lower-body injury and his status for Thursday is uncertain. They’ve travelled. They’re tired.

This should be a golden opportunity.

The Oilers are averaging 3.30 goals per game, ranking sixth in the NHL. They’re at home. They’ve got Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. On paper, this is a game they should control from start to finish.

But “should” hasn’t meant much lately. Buffalo should have been a comfortable win on Tuesday. Instead, the Oilers spotted them three goals and needed McDavid to tie it with 1.9 seconds left just to salvage a point.

Detroit comes to town, and they’re not looking much better. They’re 17-11-3, sitting in the playoff mix but far from dominant. They allow 3.32 goals per game, ranking 25th in the NHL. Their penalty kill is 24th at 79 percent. They’re playing their second game in as many nights after nearly collapsing in Calgary.

Maybe tonight the Oilers jump on a tired opponent early instead of giving them a lead. Maybe they take advantage of the back-to-back situation instead of letting Detroit dictate the pace.

“More like the Winnipeg game,” continued Henrique. “Try to jump on them and keep that pace high and the tempo high for a lot longer in the game.

“I thought we did a great job of that against Winnipeg, and then went the other way against Buffalo for the start. So that’s something we talked about, and something that we’ll try to make sure we’re on top of.”

The Red Wings aren’t coming to Rogers Place fresh-faced and well-rested.

They’re tired, banged up, playing their second game in two nights after travelling.

This should be easy. But easy hasn’t existed for the Oilers lately, even when it should.

Maybe they’ll try that tonight.

RNH – McDavid – Hyman

Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Savoie

Mangiapane – Henrique – Janmark

Frederic – Lazar – Tomasek

Ekholm – Bouchard

Nurse – Regula

Kulak – Emberson

Skinner

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