A Team we Haven't Seen Much Of VS Van Feb 23
It is funny when you look at the North Division and really all of the divisions. The NHL has spread things out (for the most part) pretty well! The Oilers have only played the Canucks twice this season. Splitting the first two games. Now the last time these two played was the second game of the season. That was a game the Oilers won 5-2 and after that the Oil lost 3 of the next 4. The Vancouver Canucks are looking for a win as they have lost 3 of their last 4 including two straight vs the Jets.
Injury Bug:
The Oilers have been hit with it. Slater Koekkoek has a broken collarbone, William Lagesson has a lingering injury. Zack Kassian has been out for a while and it seems we won't see James Neal tonight as well. It will open up the door for some players to hop into the lineup!
Oilers (11-8)
Nuge - McDavid - Puljujarvi
Kahun - Draisaitl - Yamamoto
Ennis - Khaira - Archibald
P. Russell- Haas. -Chaisson
Nurse - Barrie
Russell - Larsson
Jones - Bouchard
Smith
Ethan Bear skated today which is a great sign. I think Ethan Bear is so interesting because he is a perfect guy to play with a Nurse type of player which eventually move Barrie down the lineup. James Neal will not play tonight and one of Russell, Shore or Nygard will take his spot. Mike Smith looks to go 5-0 and he really has been good! Other than the game where he was pulled vs the Jets, he has looked solid. I can take one bad game if you are going to have a .940 sv % and a 1.83 GAA.
Reliable Depth:
I wan't to quickly talk about the Oilers 3rd line. Yes we can talk about how amazing McDavid is or Puljujarvi new dog or how Nuge has 9 goals? Nice! I wan't to say how Jujhar Khaira and Josh Archibald have really turned that 3rd line into an effective checking line. Both Corsi up over 55% in the last couple of weeks, they both haven't made an egregious mistake! *KNOCKS ON THE HARDEST WOOD*. Throwing their weight around and being reliable. That is the key word. Because you can play the top two lines 25 minutes each, but if you have a reliable 3rd line that you can role out every now and then, its really nice.
Canucks (8-12-2)
Miller - Pettersson - Boeser
Pearson - Horvat - Hoglander
Roussel - Sutter - Gaudette
Macewen - Beagle - Virtanen
Edler - Schmidt
Hughes - Benn
Juolevi - Myers
Demko
This was the lineup vs the Jets with the exception of Demko in net. To be honest the Canucks probably deserved a better fate in the overtime loss but the hockey gods were not on their team. The top line is always scary combining for 56 points this year. Have to watch them.
3 Oil Drops for Victory:
Keep the depth coming. I love when Connor McDavid weaves through 9 players and scores a goal, or when Leon snipes from the top of the circle. I also love seeing depth guys score goals. Recently the Oilers have been getting some depth goals! Haas, Chaisson and Archibald have all scored in the last 3 games!
Make Demko Sweat. You can't really look at negatives from Saturday night. The Oilers won vs Calgary 7-1! True, but they were out shot 44-24. That is absurd! I guess they say quality over quantity! Keep putting puck on the net and make Demko make tough saves. Getting out shot like that is not a recipe for success!
Keep the top line in check. It is what stirs that whole team. If you stop the top line of the Canucks you can get by them pretty handily.
Who is scoring first for the Oilers tonight?
Comments