Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

People are liking 25 and 74 again, I think that’s nice.

In his last five starts, Stuart Skinner is 4-1 with a .947 SV% and a 1.40 GAA. Only citing these games seems like a cherry pick, as his overall stats still don’t look great this season. But what matters is they are trending in a better direction. Bob Stauffer pointed out during the second intermission that the pairing of Darnell Nurse and Brett Kulak, playing a minimum of 100 minutes, is in the top 8 for Expected Goals For. Via a tweet from Jason Gregor, Nurse has allowed the fewest goals of all Oilers defensemen with two since November 1st. He also has the lowest GA among all NHL D-men, the highest GF% (80%), and the lowest GA/60. I know he’s a whipping that everyone loves to pile on, but giving credit where it’s due is important. Just as Skinner, Evan Bouchard, and Zach Hyman have all done, Nurse has looked like a completely different player in the last month. I hope he keeps this up, as having two good pairings heading into the Trade Deadline and Playoffs could spell something interesting for this team.

It was impressive for Edmonton to win a tight 2-1 game against a very good opponent in the Lightning. They’ll bring their current three-game winning streak to one road game against a team historically hailed for tight defensive hockey but has become more offensive over the years. The keys to the game are…

Edmonton Oilers Thoughts

Visitor’s PTSD: Before the first meeting between these teams, I mentioned the Oilers’ all-time losing record against Minnesota. It’s just as bad on the road, 17-27-1-6, to be exact. They have to exercise these demons eventually. What better time to start than now, after winning six of your last seven games?

Bounces: When the Wild visited Edmonton a month ago, Leon Draisaitl scored a goal from his own team’s blueline thanks to Marc-Andre Fleury missing contact with the puck entirely. On Tuesday, Leon scored what would be a game-winning goal after Andrei Vasilevskiy made the save, but then he tried playing the puck out before it bounced past him off of Victor Hedman’s skate. Even the sport’s best players make mistakes once in a blue moon, so force tonight’s opponents to make more while avoiding them yourself.

Offend The Defenders: Edmonton has allowed just 2 powerplay goals in their last 14 games, while Minnesota has allowed 10 in that same span. The Oilers were 0/2 with the man advantage in the first meeting but scored three even-strength goals. The Wild have had great goaltending, but their penalty kill is a sore spot; they ranked 26th, according to ESPN. Our team’s isn’t much better, ranked 28th, but you also have to consider how it started compared to now. Hit the boring defensive team where it hurts, 5v4.