Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

They overcame the US turkey legs coming from the other side of the border.

Edmonton started last night’s game playing like they’d just taken a week off. It’s normal, layoffs aren’t always kind to any team. Goals against came off of turnovers and bad line changes. A 2-0 deficit in the first period wasn’t part of the plan, but again, long break. It wasn’t the same as any other bad game I’ve disliked from them. They still came back and won, so why be mad?

Louie DeBrusk mentioned it was the first game so far this season that the Oilers scored more than one goal on the man advantage. They really haven’t been the powerplay merchants of old. It was also stated during the broadcast that Utah are the most penalized team in the league this season. That flaw in their game may’ve kickstarted the momentum swing for Edmonton. Even though the Oilers had their last PP killed off, they played it well and it energized them heading into Overtime. It’s been a tough year for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins offensively, but that OT goal, and the move he made to create his breakaway chance to win it, is hopefully a sign of his puck luck starting to trend more upwards.

The Oil move onto the second half of their back-to-back with a stronger opponent that they’d just stripped the second Wild Card spot from. An unlikely position for two Cup contenders. The keys to the game are…

Leaking Goals: Much like with Edmonton, below average goaltending in Colorado has helped hinder their position in the standings. Alex Georgiev played last night in Dallas, so it should be Justus Annunen tonight, who doesn’t look any better statistically. Stuart Skinner played a great game against the Rangers. He needs to build off of that against a top heavy team and a back-up goalie.

Upward PK: Edmonton’s 30th ranked penalty kill is 18/18 in their last 8 games. They have started improving in that department this month. You’d rather not let Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar have too many extra shifts. But this is a much bigger test for their PK units.

Mc Vs Mac: Speaking of MacKinnon, it’s always a treat when he goes toe-to-toe with Connor McDavid. Nathan is in a tight race for the NHL scoring lead with 36 points, while Connor has found his niche again since he came back from his early season injury.