Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

A bad game was bound to happen; take it easy, Oilers fans.

One positive to take out of Monday night’s debacle is Zach Hyman showing his warrior side. He took a Bouch-bomb in the face and still had a glorious scoring chance in the third period. If he had scored on it, it would’ve been a hat trick, and his 8th goal would have been since returning from injury. With spots of blood dripping from his nose and onto his jersey, it’s almost as if he should be wearing another jersey with the color red on it two months from now. To all those who think it’s easy for Hyman to score as many goals as he does, you have to be really brave to stand in front of the net and risk getting hit with a puck.

Stuart Skinner or Evan Bouchard? Who do we blame? I blame both, frankly. Bouchard held himself accountable for gaffes and mistakes during his postgame interview. And from the goalie’s perspective, letting in 6 goals on 28 shots is never pretty, even if you argue that not every goal against was his fault. What I don’t blame either of them for is Sam Reinhart’s impression of scoring a Connor McDavid goal. After skating on a rush out of his zone, he shot the puck at the back of Skinner’s helmet and into the net. McDavid scores 2 or 3 goals off the goalie’s helmet each season and we think it’s great. So, to say the Reinhart goal was on Bouchard or Skinner kind of seems like a double standard to me.

Sergei Bobrovsky was no better, allowing five goals. But his team won, that’s the difference. More often than not, Skinner bounces back well after a bad loss. He’ll look to do that again against Jeremy Swayman, another #1 goaltender with subpar stats. The keys to the game are…

Edmonton Oilers Three Thoughts

Don’t Collapse: The Oilers had a 4-2 lead at one point against the Panthers, then allowed a goal late in the second period, and it all went south from there. The Bruins made a third-period comeback from 3-1 down and won overtime against the Flames on Tuesday night. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: it’s never over until it’s over. You can even think back to Boston’s last visit to Rogers Place when Edmonton erased a 4-1 deficit.

Get Em’ Angry: Boston has taken more penalties than any team in the league. Make them go back to being the big bad Bruins for a night and make them pay when you go on the man advantage. At the same time, don’t allow their 31st-ranked powerplay to bounce back with bad penalties of your own. Darnell Nurse was not the referee’s best friend three nights ago.

Arvy?: Viktor Arvidsson might be back in the lineup tonight after getting back to practicing with the team this week. Even before his injury, he was struggling with offense. His return, either tonight or next game, and still waiting for Evander Kane, will put the Oilers forward depth in a pickle. The Bruins could be a suitable first game back, as he also tends to play like a pest.