Edmonton Oilers Pregame Thoughts

These comeback wins we’re seeing lately have been pretty fun for Oilers fans.

Seeing 22-year-old Yaroslav Askarov, the 11th overall pick by Nashville in 2020, come up with a 39-save performance and almost steal 2 points from us reminded Edmonton Oilers fans of when Lukas Dostal goalie-d our team for the Ducks at this same time two years ago. Edmonton didn’t have a great start to the game, they woke up after the first 10 or so minutes. Although Calvin Pickard wasn’t as busy as Askarov, he made a big game save on Macklin Celebrini in the third period when the Sharks were still up 2-1. Of course, you don’t cheer for your team to go down a goal or two. But seeing the Oil have two straight come-from-behind wins shows that there’s no quit in their game. I don’t have an answer for why they often don’t start on time against basement dwellers other than it’s just the way they are. My first impression of Celebrini against my team was a good one. Not just offensively, he also made a good defensive effort to take Leon Draisaitl off the puck at one point in the first period.

I was looking forward to seeing what Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard could do as a pairing, but they were only on the ice together once, and it wasn’t for long. They practiced as a pairing the day before, and we all just assumed they would be all game-long or at least for one period. It would’ve made for an interesting experiment. Another 2 points in the standings would make for a nice early present under the Christmas tree. Time to end this weekend on Santa’s nice list. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. The keys to the game are…

Edmonton Oilers Notes

The Ullmark Channel: After the Oilers game in Ottawa on November 19th, Vezina-winning goaltender Linus Ullmark had an .884 SV%. A month later, it has been catapulted to a .916 SV%. The resurgence in his play is a huge reason the Senators have climbed their way up to a Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. I easily assume Ullmark is starting this game because he didn’t start last night in Vancouver. However, I got the starting goalie for San Jose wrong yesterday. At this time of the year, I just wanted an excuse for how I named this game key.

Another Rat: Before the San Jose game, we saw Brad Marchand. Before that game, we saw Matthew Tkachuk. Tonight, we see the other Tkachuk. Brady, the Senators captain, hits and scores like the other rats mentioned. But he does one thing that they don’t do. He takes a lot more faceoffs, and his win percentage on the dot is above 50% in 3 of his 6 NHL seasons. That’s a pretty impressive stat for a winger. Edmonton and Ottawa are ranked 3rd and 4th, respectively, in faceoff win percentages this season. You know, you have to expect not-so-nice pleasantries but also look for him defensively and offensively in key moments.

Fellow Countryman: Ottawa star Tim Stutzle is surely always circling his calendar the days he plays against his German counterpart Leon Draisaitl. He scored a tying goal in the first meeting between their teams, but Draisaitl got the last laugh with a goal of his own and Edmonton’s 5-2 win. Both the Oilers and Senators are coming off back-to-back overtime wins. Draisaitl put up a secondary assist and a goal in that order. Stutzle had primary assists on both of his team’s OT goals.