Trying to Unclog from the rest. VS Calgary

So, it seems that we have a pit of a log jam here in the North Division. Toronto is in the top spot with 40 points after losing to Ottawa. HAH pathetic. Who loses to Ottawa? Anyway! It's a log jam. The Oilers are tied with Winnipeg with 36 points and the Oilers have an opportunity to jump ahead and stay ahead for a couple weeks as well. Two games vs Calgary and then two vs the aforementioned Jets. If the Oilers can take at least both away from the Jets, they are looking good going forward.

Oilers (18-12)

Josh Archibald is back in the lineup and I could not be happier. The Team leader in hits (which might be the craziest stat because he is 5 foot nothing) he just brings a nice spark to the lineup. He will be on a line with Shore and Khaira. Other than that everything seems to be...KRIS RUSSELL IS BACK IN.

What did Evan Bouchard Do?

Bouchard hasn't played in 14 days. That is 2 weeks. You cannot tell me that Kris Russell is a better option right now than Bouchard. Evan Bouchard has a 54% corsi rating to Kris Russels 45%. Overall Bouchard moves the puck better and gives the team more scoring opportunities. Oh, and he is playing on his offside! I don't get why he hasn't played in 2 weeks but I guess it is not up to me. Let's look at the last game Evan Bouchard played. He was a -2 in 13 minutes played in a loss vs the Leafs. Everybody played bad in that certain game. Look, I get taking him out of that game to maybe learn his mistakes but my god, could you not have put him back in vs Ottawa at least? Games like those can boost the confidence of a young defensemen like that Instead he has been rotting in the press box not getting any ie time.

Calgary (13-12-3)

Darryl Sutter is back in cow town. So far so good too! He is 2-0 and yes his coaching style might be boring and not fun to watch but it is effective. The team is gravitating toward the new coach and in the 2 games that Sutter has coached the Flames actually look good? They beat Montreal back to back out scoring them 5-2. Low scoring games will be the bread and butter of that team going forward as the new coach has put a mandate of defence. Jacob Markstrom starts in goal, he won both matchups vs Montreal and has bounced back nicely after 4 straight loses.

3 Oil Drops for Victory:

1. Play Fast. The Calgary Flames new mandate is to play fast, well let's just play faster! You know you have the speed all through the lineup so just prove to them and yourselves that you are the faster of the two teams tonight.

2. Keep The PP Hot! The Oilers have scored at least one time on the power play in the last 4 games. Scoring 5 on 5 is always nice but when you can score on the PP it is double nice! It just gives you the edge over teams in the long run.

3. Get The Bounces. It is hard to say "just get the right bounces" Because how do you start making bounces happen? Its about being in the right places and doing your own job. Be in the right spots and bounces will go your way. Keep getting hounded in your own end and make bad decisions, then you will not get bounces. It's that simple.

Let's do that hockey.